Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore Geoff Menge (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) scored the winning penalty kick goal as fourth-seeded Gettysburg College defeated fifth-seeded Dickinson College 5-4 in penalty kicks Wednesday evening in the Centennial Conference men's soccer first-round match in front of a raucous crowd at Clark Field.
After playing to a 1-1 tie in regulation and two overtimes, Gettysburg (11-6-1) converted all five penalty kick attempts. With the shootout tied 4-4, Menge went top shelf for the game-winner.
The Bullets now move on to the Centennial Conference semifinals and will face top-seeded and No. 11-ranked Franklin & Marshall College at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The winner of that game will advance to Sunday's conference championship match to play the winner of the other semifinal between third-seeded Muhlenberg and second-seeded Johns Hopkins. Franklin & Marshall will serve as the host site for both the semifinal and championship rounds. The Centennial Conference champion receives an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III Championship tournament.
Gettysburg has now advanced in the first round on penalty kicks in each of the last three seasons.
The Bullets were in control early, out-shooting Dickinson 10-4 in the opening period. Gettysburg appeared to have taken a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute when a Chris Bayon (Langhorne, Pa./Lawrenceville School) header found the back of the net, but the shot was wiped off due to an offsides call. But Gettysburg still got on the scoreboard first, as sophomore Ryan Shaffer (Biglerville, Pa./Biglerville) headed home a perfect left cross from senior Jesse Gemberling-Johnson (Wyndmoor, Pa./Christopher Dock) in the 32nd minute. Sophomore Jeff Sapolsky (Annandale, Va./W.T. Woodson) started the play with a give-and-go pass from the top as the Bullets took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
The Red Devils (13-2-3) pulled even in the second half, when, in the 67th minute, Thomas Parkinson accepted a Matt Edgar cross from the right and slotted in a sliding shot from inside the box. Dickinson would out-shoot Gettysburg 3-2 over the remainder of regulation, but senior goalie Matt Langston (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) kept the Bullets in it with a pair of saves down the stretch, including a leaping fingertip deflection in the 73rd minute.
Dickinson out-shot the Bullets 2-1 over the two 10-minute overtime sessions, but Langston saved the only shot on goal during that period to send the game to PKs.
Bayon, senior Brad Tabor (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon), sophomore Drew Erickson (Wynnewood, Pa./Friends Central School), freshman Sean Lucey (Garden City, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial), and Menge all converted penalty kicks for the Bullets.
Gettysburg out-shot Dickinson 21-13 for the match and held a 9-6 advantage in penalty corners. Langston finished with four saves while Rodrigo Barboza stopped six shots for the Red Devils.
