GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Ric Bremer (Ridgefield, CT/John Jay [NY]) scored five times and Tommy Pearce (Chestertown, MD/Woodberry Forest [VA]) added four goals to lead No. 1 Gettysburg past 13th-ranked Washington 15-7 in the Centennial Conference (CC) men's lacrosse championship game on Sunday.

 With the win, the Bullets (14-1) won their fourth consecutive CC title and earned the program's 11th consecutive berth in the NCAA tournament, which begins May 9.

 Pete Milliman (Rochester, NY/Brighton), Charlie Hanchett (Annapolis, MD/Stony Brook School [NY]) and Wes Cadman (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) tallied three points apiece for Gettysburg, which tied program records for consecutive victories (12) and wins in a season (14) while downing the Shoremen (9-7) for the fifth straight time.

 Craig Rentch scored three goals to lead Washington, which wraps up its regular season next Saturday at home against Salisbury State.

 After managing three goals in the entire first half of a 7-5 win over the Shoremen on Apr. 14, the Bullets tallied three times in the opening 4:31 en route to a decisive 10-goal first-half outburst.

 Pearce netted the first goal of the game on the Bullets' initial possession, beating his defender with a strong 1-on-1 move and ripping a shot past Washington goalie John Chrismer with only 38 seconds elapsed.

 Rich Sharp (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough Reg.) made it 2-0 by finishing a strong solo move at the 12:35 mark and Matt Twombly (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) scored off a cut to the net with 10:29 still to play in the first quarter.

 Eric Kuehn scored man-up off a behind-the-net feed from Steve Berger at 9:46 to break the Shoremen onto the scoreboard.

 Gettysburg couldn't cash in on their first two extra-man opportunities, but Pearce finished the Bullets' third man-up chance and made it 4-1 on a rip from the left side of the cage with 1:28 left in the quarter.

 Washington won the ensuing faceoff, but turned the ball over on a bad pass with 1:12 remaining.

 Gettysburg took advantage of that mistake when Milliman scored off a feed from Chris Baran (Newington, CT/Newington) with only 5.2 seconds left for a 5-1 lead.

 Rentch scored unassisted 43 seconds into the second quarter to cut the lead to 5-2, but Bremer and Pearce tallied two goals apiece over a span of 3 minutes, 47 seconds to build the Bullet lead to 9-3 with 8:50 left before halftime.  Hanchett set up both of Bremer's goals during the stretch for two of his three assists on the day.

 Rentch blasted another shot past Gettysburg goalie Tim McGinnis (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola-Blakefield) to pull the Shoremen within 9-4 at 7:11.

 McGinnis stopped Kuehn from point-blank range in the final minute and the Bullets added another late-quarter back-breaker when Bremer scored from Cadman with only 4.1 seconds left before the halftime horn for a 10-4 lead.

 Kuehn scored man-up at 9:57 of the third to cut the deficit to five, but Washington would get no closer the rest of the way.

 McGinnis finished with nine saves on the afternoon for Gettysburg.  Chrismer made five saves before being replaced by Jesse Markowitz midway through the second quarter with the Shoremen trailing 7-3.

 The Bullets' 10-goal first-half outburst was the squad's highest scoring half against a ranked opponent this season.

 Gettysburg is 5-11 in 12 all-time appearances in the NCAA tournament.  With the No. 1 ranking in Division III, the Bullets are in position to earn a first-round bye into the national quarterfinals when the NCAA field is announced on Sunday, May 6.
 
 

Goals:

Washington: Craig Rentch 3, Eric Kuehn 2, Mike Campbell, Jon Fellows.

Gettysburg: Ric Bremer 5, Tommy Pearce 4, Matt Twombly 2, Pete Milliman 2, Rich Sharp, Wes Cadman.

Assists:

Washington: Nick Nylund 2, Steve Berger, Dan Meehan.

Gettysburg: Charlie Hanchett 3, Cadman 2, Chris Baran 2, Milliman, Jake Van Nostrand.

Shots: Washington 29, Gettysburg 37.

Ground Balls: Washington 28, Gettysburg 31.

Extra-Man: Washington 2 of 6, Gettysburg 3 of 8.

Faceoffs: Washington 12, Gettysburg 12.

Goalies: Washington (John Chrismer – 18:37, 5 saves, 7 GA; Jesse Markowitz – 41:23, 6 saves, 8 GA), Gettysburg (Tim McGinnis – 60:00, 9 saves, 7 GA).

Clearing: Washington 18 of 23, Gettysburg 18 of 21.

Penalties: Washington 8 for 7:00, Gettysburg 6 for 4:30.

Attendance: 657.

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