Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Tim McGinnis (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola-Blakefield) made 20 saves and the senior duo of Ric Bremer (Ridgefield, CT/John Jay [NY]) and Pete Milliman (Rochester, NY/Brighton) combined for 12 points to lead top-ranked Gettysburg over No. 5 Washington & Lee 12-8 in the semifinals of the 2002 NCAA Division III men's lacrosse championship on Saturday.

 McGinnis made 15 of his 20 stops in the first three quarters to help the Bullets (17-1) build a 12-3 lead and cruise to their second consecutive berth in the NCAA finals. Gettysburg will face two-time defending national champion Middlebury for the NCAA crown on Sunday, May 26 in Piscataway, N.J. The Panthers downed Gettysburg 15-10 when the teams matched up in last year's final.

 Two of the top five goal-scorers in program history, Bremer and Milliman teamed up five times to again position the Bullets within one win of the College's first-ever NCAA title. Bremer scored four goals and added two assists while Milliman found the net twice and dished out a team-high four helpers on the afternoon.

 Bremer's four-goal outing moved him into second place on the program's all-time goal-scoring list with 148 career tallies, surpassing Don Martin (146 from 1989-92) and Jamie Bateman (147 from 1996-99). With one game yet to be played, Bremer has already tied the program record for goals in a single NCAA tournament (11), a mark set by Milliman last season.

 Gettysburg's Nick Purkat (Annandale, VA/W.T. Woodson) also chipped in with a hat trick, his first since collecting seven points in an opening-day victory over Messiah.

 Matt Fink scored a team-high four goals for Washington & Lee, which fell to 0-3 all-time in the national semifinals. The Generals (14-4) got 12 saves from Ansel Sanders while outshooting the Bullets 44-37 on the day.

 After a tight first half – and a disallowed goal that would have pulled W&L within a goal at halftime – Gettysburg reeled off the first seven goals of the second half to seal its trip to Rutgers.

 The Bullets never trailed after Rich Sharp (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough Reg.) finished a solo run to make it 2-1 with 8:07 left in the first quarter and held a 5-3 lead at halftime.

 Three goals in a span of 3 minutes, 2 seconds keyed Gettysburg's game-clinching 8-0 run.

 Wes Cadman (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) scored 47 seconds into the second half – his ninth consecutive game with exactly one goal – and Kevin Smith (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) followed with his first goal in seven games to make it 7-3.

 Milliman finished a feed from Bremer with 11:11 left in the third to push the margin to five and force a Generals timeout.

 McGinnis made three saves and Fink rung the post to keep W&L at arms length before Cadman fed Purkat with 1:58 left in the quarter to make it 9-3.

 Bremer set up Purkat with 13:36 left before scoring two mores times on back-to-back assists from Milliman to push the lead to 12-3 with 9:38 remaining.

 Keyed by two of Fink's four goals, the Generals scored five times in the final nine minutes to set the final score.

Gettysburg's win was the team's program-record 17th this season, surpassing last year's total (16). The victory also snapped a five-game winning streak for the road team in this series.

 The Bullets improved to 10-12 in NCAA tournament games and 2-3 in five national semifinal appearances.

 In addition to his jump up the goal-scoring ladder, Bremer also surpassed Bateman for seventh place on the program's all-time points list (190).

 McGinnis' 20-save performance was the second-highest total of his collegiate career, surpassed only by a 22-save outing against Salisbury earlier this season.

 Purkat set the tone early, beating Sanders on a bounce shot only 39 seconds into the game to touch off a 4-1 run.

 Fink scored late in the first quarter and Dustin Martin ripped a shot past McGinnis with 6:25 remaining before halftime to pull the Generals within one.

 The Milliman-to-Bremer connection struck again with 2:36 left before halftime and the Bullets escaped the half with a two-goal lead thanks to a crease violation with 2.5 seconds remaining that wiped out W&L's fourth goal.
 

Goals:

W&L: Matt Fink 4, Dustin Martin 2, Gavin Molinelli, Andrew Barnett.

Gettysburg: Ric Bremer 4, Nick Purkat 3, Pete Milliman 2, Rich Sharp, Kevin Smith, Wes Cadman.

Assists:

W&L: Molinelli, Barnett, Rich Williams.

Gettysburg: Milliman 4, Bremer 2, Cadman 2.

Shots: W&L 44, Gettysburg 37.

Ground Balls: W&L 42, Gettysburg 41.

Extra-Man: W&L 0 of 2, Gettysburg 1 of 2.

Faceoffs: W&L 11, Gettysburg 12.

Goalies: W&L (Ansel Sanders – 60:00, 12 saves, 12 GA), Gettysburg (Tim McGinnis – 60:00, 20 saves, 8 GA).

Clearing: W&L 13 of 19, Gettysburg 20 of 26.

Penalties: W&L 3 for 3:00, Gettysburg 3 for 3:00.

Attendance: 1055.