Box Score
LEXINGTON, Va. – Nick Purkat (Annandale,
VA/W.T. Woodson) and Chase Stewart (Downingtown,
PA/Downingtown), both new additions to the Gettysburg
starting attack, combined for six goals and three assists
to lead the second-ranked Bullets past No. 15 RIT 11-5
in non-conference men’s lacrosse action on Sunday.
Purkat scored three times to key a 7-1
second-half run that helped Gettysburg (1-0) win its sixth
consecutive season opener. Stewart also netted a hat trick
in his first collegiate start.
Tim McGinnis (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola
Blakefield), the 2002 Division III Goalie of the
Year, picked up where he left off last season, making
12 saves to keep the Tigers (0-1) at bay before the Bullets’
second-half eruption.
Chris Copeland and David
Thering each scored twice for RIT while Ryan Neward
added a goal and an assist.
Despite six penalties and nine turnovers
in the first half, Gettysburg managed to take a 4-3 lead
into halftime.
Matt Twombly (New Canaan, CT/New
Canaan), who sat out the 2002 season, opened the
scoring with an unassisted drive through traffic just
1 minute, 41 seconds into the game. Twombly staked the
Bullets to a 2-0 advantage by finishing another solo effort
at the 6:55 mark of the first quarter.
RIT battled back to tie the game at 2
behind the first two collegiate goals from Thering. The
freshman attackman scored off a feed from Tony Green
just one minute after Twombly’s second goal, then found
the net again off a feed from Neward with 2:30 left in
the quarter.
John O’Bannon (Marshall, VA/Highland
School) gave Gettysburg a 3-2 lead in the opening
minutes of the second quarter, taking a behind-the-net
feed from Purkat and ripping a shot past Tiger netminder
Jon Sinclair.
Neward scored off a long solo run to
knot the game at 3 with 11:46 to play before halftime.
Stewart restored the Bullets’ one-goal lead with his first
collegiate goal off another feed from Purkat at the 10:12
mark.
McGinnis flashed his 2002 form with a
point-blank save on Dave Demuth minutes
after Stewart’s goal to preserve the 4-3 lead.
After halftime, Gettysburg took over.
Jake Van Nostrand (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin)
faked his defender and fed Purkat, who scored while falling
backwards to make it 5-3. Stewart finished a curling run
just 1 minute, 4 seconds later for the Bullets’ first
3-goal advantage of the day.
Copeland scored unassisted to bring RIT
briefly within two, but Stewart and Purkat each found
the net in a span of 1:37 to make it 8-4. Brian
Ford (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) capped the decisive
period with his first collegiate goal, scoring in transition
of a feed from O’Bannon with 53.6 seconds left in the
quarter.
Purkat capped his hat trickwith 13:07
remaining and Kevin Smith (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh)
closed out the scoring with his first goal of the season
at 8:12.
Due to delays in the renovation of Gettysburg’s
home field from natural grass to an artificial surface,
the game was moved to Washington & Lee University.
The Bullets return to action at W&L on
Saturday. Game time is 1:30 p.m.
| Score by Quarter |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
- |
F |
| #15 RIT (0-1) |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
- |
5 |
| #2 Gettysburg (1-0) |
2 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
- |
11 |
Goals:
RIT: Chris Copeland 2, David Thering
2, Ryan Neward.
Gettysburg: Nick Purkat 3, Chase
Stewart 3, Matt Twombly 2, John O’Bannon, Kevin Smith,
Brian Ford.
Assists:
RIT: Tony Green, Dave Griffin,
Neward.
Gettysburg: Jake Van Nostrand
2, Purkat 2, Peter Politi, Sean McTernan, O’Bannon, Stewart.
Shots: RIT 28, Gettysburg 29.
Ground Balls: RIT 23, Gettysburg
45.
Extra-Man: RIT 1 of 8, Gettysburg
0 of 5.
Faceoffs: RIT 7, Gettysburg 12.
Goalies: RIT (Jon Sinclair – 60:00,
5 saves, 11 GA), Gettysburg (Tim McGinnis – 60:00, 12
saves, 5 GA).
Clearing: RIT 17 of 23, Gettysburg
14 of 21.
Penalties: RIT 5 for 3:00, Gettysburg
8 for 6:00.
Attendance: 50.
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