GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Julika Blankenship (Crumpton, MD/Kent County) scored four of her game-high six points during a game-opening 11-0 run that help seventh-ranked Gettysburg cruise past Haverford 17-6 in Centennial Conference (CC) women's lacrosse action on Thursday.

 Blankenship opened the scoring with the first of her four goals at the 26:44 mark of the first half and capped the Bullets' 11-goal explosion by setting up Katie Merriken (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) with 9:29 left in the first half.

She also tallied a goal and an assist 32 seconds apart during the stretch before capping the half with an unassisted goal at 2:53.

Merriken and Anna Haugen (Bethpage, NY/Bethpage) each finished with a hat trick for Gettysburg (6-2, 3-1 CC) while freshman Liz Borucki (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) made seven saves in her first collegiate start.

Amy Farrell (Ambler, PA/Upper Dublin) and Becky Bucha (Waccabuc, NY/John Jay [NY]) tallied two goals and one assist apiece to help the Bullets bounce back from a 13-9 loss at Drew on Tuesday.

Haverford (3-7, 2-3 CC) leading scorer Leigh James netted four goals and added one assist in the loss.

After going nearly 16 minutes before scoring at Drew on Tuesday, the Bullets reversed form in dramatic fashion against the Fords, scoring the game's first 11 goals in just over 20 minutes.

Blankenship finished an up-and-under fake to open the scoring at 26:44 and Farrell made it 2-0 off a feed from Susie Mitchell (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) with 24:19 left in the first half.

Less than a minute later, Megan Murphy (Wilton, CT/Wilton) found the net for a 3-0 lead to force a Haveford timeout.

Borucki sandwiched her first two saves of the game around an unassisted goal from Haugen at 22:04.  Bucha scored the Bullets' next two goals in a 2-minute span to make it 6-0 and Blankenship finished a cut across the goal mouth to give Gettysburg a seven-goal cushion with 17:25 remaining in the first half.

Haugen buried two free-position goals over the next seven minutes to help the Bullets build an 11-0 lead before Mindy Walman and James scored on consecutive possessions to break the shutout and make it 11-2 with 5:13 left before the break.

Haverford pulled within 12-6 at the 16:13 mark of the second half thanks to three more goals from James, but Merriken scored twice to help Gettysburg close out the game on a 5-0 run.

Candace Fisch (New Canaan, CT/Lawrenceville School [NJ]) netted her first goal of the season on Bullet freshman Erin O'Donnell's (Media, PA/Penncrest) first collegiate assist and point with 7:25 left.

Ford goalie Kate Duffy made 12 saves on the afternoon.

Gettysburg returns to action on Saturday, Apr. 7 at Swarthmore.  Game time is 1 p.m.
 
 

Goals:

Haverford: Leigh James 4, Mindy Walman 2.

Gettysburg: Julika Blankenship 4, Anna Haugen 3, Katie Merriken 3, Becky Bucha 2, Amy Farrell 2, Megan Murphy, Jessica Seedorf, Candace Fisch.

Assists:

Haverford: James.

Gettysburg: Blankenship 2, Bucha, Farrell, Jess Hanson, Susie Mitchell, Kathryn Grassel, Erin O'Donnell.

Shots: Haverford 25, Gettysburg 39.

Ground Balls: Haverford 37, Gettysburg 55.

Goalies: Haverford (Kate Duffy – 60 minutes, 12 saves, 17 GA), Gettysburg (Liz Borucki – 51 minutes, 7 saves, 6 GA; Michele Centrella – 9 minutes, 5 saves; 0 GA).

Draw Controls: Haverford 11, Gettysburg 14.

Caused Turnovers: Haverford 7, Gettysburg 11.

Turnovers: Haverford 22, Gettysburg 21.

Fouls: Haverford 15, Gettysburg 18.

Free Position: Haverford 1 of 3, Gettysburg 4 of 8.

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