Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior attackmen Evan Gallant (Lutherville, MD/Loyola Blakefield) and Brian Pryor (Dallas, TX/St. Mark's) each netted a hat trick to lift No. 2 Gettysburg to an 8-4 win over No. 8 Washington (Md.) in the 2006 Centennial Conference men's lacrosse championship on Sunday afternoon at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium. With the victory, Gettysburg clinches the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, which begins on Wednesday. It also marks the third straight year the Bullets have won the CC tournament.
Gettysburg (16-1) has defeated Washington (13-4) five times in the tournament's six-year history, with the Shoremen winning the 2003 title. Overall, the Bullets have won 10 CC championships in the 13 years of the conference's existence.
Gallant also added an assist for four points on the day. He had two goals in Friday's semifinal victory over Haverford to finish the tournament with five goals and an assist. Pryor had three goals and two assists on Friday for a tournament total of six goals and two assists, but the first- and fourth-ranked defenses in the nation carried the day on Sunday.
The Bullets, who boasted the nation's best defense through the games of Apr. 30, held the Shoremen to one shot on goal in the first half. Junior goalie Pat Vaughan (Cockeysville, MD/Loyola Blakefield), the 2006 Centennial Conference Player of the Year, was forced to make six saves in the final 30 minutes of play. His counterpart, Washington senior Kevin Thibadeau, made 11 stops.
The game featured nearly 13 minutes of scoreless play before Gettysburg tallied twice in a 16-second span late in the first quarter. Sophomore attacker Trip Dyer (Ocean View, DE/Worcester Prep [MD]) picked up a ground ball off a Shoremen turnover and started a 2-on-1 with Gallant, who scored the first of his three goals on the play. On the ensuing faceoff, senior midfielder Chris Renzi (Fairport, NY/Fairport) won the draw and picked up one of his six ground balls after an extended scrum. He raced up the right sideline and got a pass to junior midfielder Ted Leonard (Wallingford, PA/Strath Haven) at the center of the field about 15 yards out. He ripped a shot past Thibadeau for a 2-0 lead, but Washington answered with just 37 seconds left on the clock. Senior attacker Sam Lane scored the first of his team-high two goals with an assist going to sophomore attackman Brian Read. That would be Read's lone point of the day after he led all scorers with six goals in Friday's semifinal against Dickinson.
Armed with a 2-1 lead, Gettysburg then bookended the second quarter with a pair of goals. With just 2:35 gone, junior midfielder Jared Harriman (Yarmouth, ME/Yarmouth) overcame some good defense by Washington with a great spin move on the right wing. He then charged in 1-on-0 for an open look at the net and connected. Ten minutes later, Dyer had the ball behind the net to Thibadeau's right. He tossed a high pass to senior midfielder T.J. Liberto (Arnold, MD/St. Mary's) in front, who moved the ball along to Pryor. Pryor charged right up the middle for the score, giving the home team a 4-1 lead heading into the locker room.
Despite the three-goal deficit, the Shoremen opened the second half with a great opportunity to close the gap. Gettysburg had been whistled for two penalties in the last 13 seconds of the second quarter, to give Washington a two-man advantage for up to 1:47. It did not take the visitors that long to capitalize, however, as they used precision passing to open up a wide-open backdoor for freshman attackman Jimmy Kielek. Junior attackman Kevin Nolan assisted on the play, but Washington would not score for another 14 minutes, by which time Gettysburg had a 6-2 lead. Pryor and Harriman connected for Pryor's second goal with 10:58 to play, and junior attackman Greg Montgomery (Asheville, NC/St. Andrew's School [DE]) found Gallant with a nice pass three-and-a-half minutes later to give Gettysburg its first four-goal lead of the game.
Shoreman junior midfielder Andrew Ostrusky made a nice individual effort to score an unassisted goal with 38 seconds left in the third quarter, but Gettysburg quickly went back on the attack. Thibadeau made two great saves and controlled the ball after the second. He circled around behind the net to begin a clearing attempt, but Gallant picked off his pass and ran uncontested for a goal on the open net. Lane would score for Washington early in the fourth quarter, but Pryor struck again with 5:29 left to seal the win.
The Bullets will now await their first opponent in the NCAA tournament. The bracket for the field of 20 will be revealed on CSTV at 9 p.m. on Sunday evening. The tournament begins with four first-round games on Wednesday.
| Score by Quarter |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
- |
F |
| No. 8 Washington (13-4) |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
- |
4 |
| No. 2 Gettysburg (16-1) |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
- |
8 |
Goals:
Washington: Sam Lane 2, Jimmy Kielek 1, Andrew Ostrusky 1.
Gettysburg: Evan Gallant 3, Brian Pryor 3, Jared Harriman 1, Ted Leonard 1.
Assists:
Washington: Kevin Nolan 1, Chris Read 1.
Gettysburg: Trip Dyer 1, Gallant 1, Harriman 1, T.J. Liberto 1, Greg Montgomery 1, Chris Renzi 1.
Goalies: W (Kevin Thibadeau – 60:00, 11 saves, 8 GA); G (Pat Vaughan – 60:00, 6 saves, 4 GA).
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