Box Score

Facing a 43-shot barrage by the Bullets (18-3), Goetz came up big time-and-again to stall Gettysburg’s late comeback attempt and send the Sea Gulls (16-2) to their second appearance in the national semifinals. Among her 22 saves, Goetz halted eight of the Bullets’ nine unsuccessful free-position attempts.

Amber Stansbury paced the Salisbury offense with a hat trick while Erin McCarthy chipped in with a pair of goals and a game-high five draw controls.

Julika Blankenship (Crumpton, MD/Kent County) and Kathy Delauney (Lutherville, MD/Roland Park Country School) each scored twice to lead Gettysburg, which fell to 0-3 in national quarterfinal appearances. Blankenship finished her superlative career with a program-record 309 points while Delauney closed her junior season with a team-best 53 goals.

Senior goalie Liz Borucki (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) made eight saves on the day, becoming the third Bullet to surpass the 500-career save mark (502).

Holding an advantage in possession time thanks to a 5-2 edge in draw controls, the Sea Gulls steadily built a four-goal halftime lead.

Both teams missed with their initial shot attempts before Salisbury’s Linda Ackermann opened the scoring off a feed from Jessica White at 7:02. Stansbury made it 2-0 off an assist from Mary Bateman a little more than two minutes later, a goal set up by an Ackermann caused turnover.

Goetz made her first save of the day on Delauney nearly 13 minutes into the game and White set up McCarthy at 17:32 to make it 3-0. Goetz made two more saves to maintain the shutout, but Gettysburg finally struck when Jenn Kelly (Westbury, NY/Carle Place) connected off a pass from Cassidy Zappacosta (Monkton, MD/Maryvale Prep) at 21:03.

McCarthy, however, gathered the ensuing draw control and a minute-long Sea Gull possession ended with an unassisted goal from Lynsey Bateman at 22:07. After Goetz made free-position saves on Katie Lowe (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) and Amy Farell (Ambler, PA/Upper Dublin), Jessica Wirth scored with 1:27 left in the half to make it 5-1 at the break.

After halftime, Salisbury turned matters over to Goetz.

The sophomore netminder, who carried a .597 save percentage into the weekend, made five stops in the first seven minutes of the second half before Stansbury struck again for a 6-1 lead with 21:14 left. Goetz halted the Bullets’ next eight shots on net before Blankenship broke through off a feed from Lowe with 9:26 remaining.

With a 29-minute scoring drought in the rearview mirror, Gettysburg’s offense came to life down the stretch. Lowe won the next draw control and Delauney found the net on the ensuing rush to pull the visitors within 6-3. Goetz subsequently halted Zappacosta, but Delauney scooped the ground ball and scored again to make it 6-4 with 6:26 to play.

The rejuvenated Bullets hounded the Sea Gulls into four turnovers over the next four minutes, but Goetz denied Delauney two more times to maintain the two-goal cushion. Stansbury provided crucial insurance with 2:19 left, capping her hat trick off a set-up from Amanda Tack to push the lead to 7-4.

Blankenship netted the 149^th and final goal of her career with 52 seconds left, but Gettysburg would get no closer down the stretch. The last of Delauney’s game-high 18 shots was blocked in the final seconds and McCarthy set the final margin on a free-position goal with one second remaining.

In addition to her program-record point total, Blankenship finished first on the Bullets’ career assists list (160) and fifth in career goals (149). She finished the season with 41 goals and a Centennial Conference-record 71 assists.

Gettysburg held a 43-21 shot advantage on the afternoon and a 37-26 edge in ground balls.

With the loss, the Bullets fell to 3-4 in its four NCAA tournament appearances. Gettysburg had previously advanced as far as the national quarterfinals in 2000 and 2003.

Goals

Gettysburg: Julika Blankenship 2, Kathy Delauney 2, Jenn Kelly.

Salisbury: Amber Stansbury 3, Erin McCarthy 2, Lynsey Bateman, Linda Ackermann, Jessica Wirth.

Assists

Gettysburg: Katie Lowe, Cassidy Zappacosta.

Salisbury: Jessica White 2, Lynsey Bateman, Mary Bateman, Amanda Tack.

Shots: G 43, S 21.

Ground Balls: G 37, S 26.

Goalies: G (Liz Borucki – 60:00, 8 saves, 8 GA), S (Ali Goetz – 60:00, 22 saves, 5 GA).

Draw Controls: G 6, S 8.

Caused Turnovers: G 7, S 7.

Turnovers: G 17, S 23.

Fouls: G 14, S 20.

Free Position: G 0 of 9, S 1 of 2.

-30-