GETTYSBURG, Pa. --- Pete Milliman (Rochester, NY/Canterbury [CT]), Ric Bremer (Ridgefield, CT/John Jay [NY]) and Ross Garretson (New Hope, PA/Germantown Acad.) combined for nine goals and 12 points to lead the third-ranked Gettysburg men's lacrosse team to a 19-6 win over Widener in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament on Wednesday.
The trio of Bullet attackmen combined for six goals and an assist during a 10-0 second-quarter run that helped Gettysburg turn a 3-2 lead into a 13-2 halftime advantage en route to its program-record 14th win of the season. Mark Pollak (Fairfax Station, VA/Lake Braddock) added a hat trick for the Bullets (14-1), who posted their fifth NCAA tournament victory while making their 11th NCAA postseason appearance.
The win also increased Gettysburg's all-time record against Widener to a perfect 19-0.
With the win, the Bullets advanced to the national quarterfinals, where they will rematch Washington & Lee University on Sunday, May 14 at Musselman Stadium. Game time is to be announced. The Generals, whose only loss on the season was a 6-4 setback to Gettysburg on March 12, blasted Kenyon 22-4 in their first round game on Wednesday.
Scott Ward scored a pair of goals for the Pioneers (10-5) while Tom Robson added a goal and two assists in the loss. Goalie Pat Carmack made 15 saves for Widener, which saw its program-record winning streak halted at nine games in the program's NCAA tournament debut.
Trailing 3-1 after the first period, Widener scored eight seconds into the second quarter on Robson's lone goal of the game to cut to Gettysburg lead to 3-2.
Then the Bullets took over.
Garretson scored off a feed from Matt Twombly (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) at the 12:31 mark to make it 4-2 and John Czerapowicz (Wayland, MA/Wayland) netted a pass from Kevin Callahan (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Inst.) only 41 seconds later to push the Gettysburg lead to 5-2.
Tommy Pearce (Chestertown, MD/Woodberry Forest School [VA]), who finished with two goals and two assists on the afternoon, set up Bremer at the 9:39 mark, then scored 35 seconds later to push the Bullet lead to 7-2. Milliman scored three of Gettysburg's next five goals over a span of 5:33 to make it 12-2 before Charlie Hanchett (Annapolis, MD/Stony Brook School) buried an empty-net goal off a failed clear with 1:44 left in the half to give Gettysburg a 13-2 lead at the intermission.
The Bullets outshot Widener 20-3 during the decisive period and outgunned the Pioneers 62-27 on the game. Gettysburg also held a 37-19 edge in ground balls while converting three of five extra-man opportunities.
Pearce opened the scoring with a man-up goal just 1:09 into the game, but Ward scored off a pass from Kyle Swezey at the 9:06 mark to pull Widener even at 1-1.
Garretson scored at 4:20 to give the Bullets the lead for good, then set up senior defenseman Adam Santry's (Columbia, MD/Mt. St. Joseph) first career collegiate goal with 3:38 left for a 3-1 first-quarter lead.
Andrew Barter (N. Brookfield, MA/Tabor Acad.) made nine saves in the Gettysburg net on the afternoon, including six stops in a strong first-quarter performance. Hanchett and Christian Cronin (Olney, MD/Georgetown Prep School) each tallied a goal and an assist in the win.
The Bullets' victory was their second over Widener this season. Gettysburg downed the Middle Atlantic Conference champions by a score of 14-3 on March 15 at Musselman Stadium.
| NCAA Division III First Round |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
- |
F |
| Widener (10-5) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
- |
6 |
| #3 Gettysburg (14-1) |
3 |
10 |
2 |
4 |
- |
19 |
Goals:
Widener: Scott Ward 2, Tom Robson, Mike Zolochik, Rob Birney, Eddie Murdock.
Gettysburg: Pete Milliman 4, Ric Bremer 3, Mark Pollak 3, Ross Garretson 2, Tommy Pearce 2, Kevin Callahan, Charlie Hanchett, Christian Cronin, Adam Santry, John Czerapowicz.
Assists:
Widener: Robson 2, Zolochik, Pat Myers, Steven Hartner, Kyle Swezey.
Gettysburg: Garretson 2, Pearce 2, Milliman, Callahan, Hanchett, Cronin, Matt Twombly.
Shots: Widener 27, Gettysburg 62.
Ground Balls: Widener 19, Gettysburg 37.
Extra-Man: Widener 0 of 3, Gettysburg 3 of 5.
Faceoffs: Widener 14, Gettysburg 15.
Goalies: Widener (Pat Carmack – 60 minutes, 15 saves, 19 GA), Gettysburg (Andrew Barter – 56 minutes, 9 saves, 6 GA; Eric Gregg – 4 minutes, 1 save, 0 GA).
Clearing: Widener 18 of 26, Gettysburg 23 of 26.
Penalties: Widener 5 for 5:00, Gettysburg 3 for 2:30.
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