Box Score

CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Stephen Berger collected a game-high five points and Richard Yost made 14 of his 17 saves after halftime as third-ranked Washington (Md.) rallied from a 7-3 second-quarter deficit to defeat No. 5 Gettysburg 9-8 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III men’s lacrosse championships on Wednesday.

Berger handed out two assists and scored all three of his goals during the Shoremen’s decisive 6-0 run across the final three quarters, including the eventual game-winner with 3:21 remaining. Jon Spivey snapped a 7-all tie and put Washington (18-2) ahead to stay with the second of his two goals in the opening minute of the fourth.

The Shoremen, who won two of three meetings with the Bullets (14-4) this season, advance to face top-ranked Salisbury in the national semifinals on Sunday. The defending champion Sea Gulls moved on with a 15-6 win over Washington & Lee.

Chase Stewart (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown) led Gettysburg with three goals while freshman goalie Pat Vaughan (Cockeysville, MD/Loyola) recorded a career-high 20 saves to finish with the second-highest, single-season save total in program history (239). Senior Kevin Smith (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) scored twice in the loss.

Trailing 7-3 and in need of a momentum shift late in the first half, Washington steadily climbed back into the contest thanks to Berger and Yost.

Moments after Steve Hurst (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) gave the Bullets a four-goal lead with his first collegiate goal, Berger slid past his defender and stuck a high shot past Vaughan to put the Shoremen on the comeback trail.

Following a save by Yost on Evan Gallant (Lutherville, MD/Loyola) and a Gettysburg slashing penalty, Berger drifted behind the net and found Michael Dyal for an extra-man goal with 37 seconds left that made it 7-5 at the break.

A procedure call gave Washington possession to open the third quarter and the Shoremen held the ball for more than three minutes before Berger finished a back-to-front solo move to pull his squad within 7-6.

Yost then turned away shots by Stewart, Jake Van Nostrand (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) and John O’Bannon (Marshall, VA/Highland), setting the stage for Topher Brewer’s game-tying goal off a cross-field feed from Michael McWilliams with 2:38 left in the third quarter. Vaughan turned aside Berger’s point-blank attempt in the opening seconds of the fourth, but Spivey got a wide-open look off a restart and buried the go-ahead goal with 14:06 left.

Yost denied the tying goal to Smith, O’Bannon and Van Nostrand in a two-minute stretch midway through the fourth before Berger scored low on a wrap-around with 3:21 left to make it 9-7.Stewart gave the Bullets life in the final minute, blistering a low shot past Yost off a Gallant feed with 45.2 seconds remaining.

Despite a Washington win on the ensuing face-off, Gettysburg forced a turnover and made one final rush, but the visitors were unable to get a shot away in the closing seconds.

After falling behind 3-2 in the first quarter, the Bullets scored five straight goals to seize the momentum.Nick Purkat (Annandale, VA/W.T. Woodson) tied the game with an extra-man goal and Sean McTernan (Cordlandt Manor, NY/Hendrick Hudson) rattled home a shot off both posts to make it 4-3 after one quarter. Smith connected off an O’Bannon feed – his team-leading sixth goal against the Shoremen this season – and Stewart rolled off his defender and scored low for a 6-3 Gettysburg lead.

Hurst made his first collegiate goal a memorable one, forcing a Washington turnover in the defensive zone, then finishing in transition off a pass from Jay Mayes (Pikesville, MD/McDonogh) with 3:11 left before halftime.

The Bullets, however, wouldn’t score again for nearly 33 minutes, helping Washington to its first national semifinal since winning the NCAA championship in 1998.

Stewart wrapped up his superlative sophomore season with a team-leading 45 goals. Mayes, Smith, O’Bannon and McTernan – part of a heralded senior class that played in two NCAA title games – each contributed two points in their final collegiate game.

NCAA Quarterfinals	1	2	3	4	-	F
#5 Gettysburg (14-4)	4	3	0	1	-	8
#3 Washington (18-2)	3	2	2	2	-	9

Goals

Gettysburg: Chase Stewart 3, Kevin Smith 2, Sean McTernan, Nick Purkat, Steve Hurst.

Washington: Stephen Berger 3, Jon Spivey 2, Michael Dyal 2, Kevin Nolan, Topher Brewer.

Assists

Gettysburg: Jay Mayes 2, John O’Bannon 2, Evan Gallant, Sean McTernan.

Washington: Berger 2, Michael McWilliams.

Shots: G 38, W 36.

Ground Balls: G 31, W 36.

Extra-Man: G 1 of 2, W 1 of 3.

Face-Offs: G 11, W 9.

Goalies: G (Pat Vaughan – 60:00, 20 saves, 9 GA), W (Richard Yost – 60:00, 17 saves, 8 GA).

Clearing: G 17 of 21, W 18 of 19.

Penalties: G 3 for 2:30, W 2 for 2:00.

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