Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Junior Chris Bayon (Langhorne, Pa./Lawrenceville School (N.J.)) and senior Matt Varner (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) got the Gettysburg College men's soccer team off on the right track to begin the Centennial Conference season, each netting a pair of goals in the Bullets' decisive 5-0 victory over visiting Ursinus College at Clark Field.

Gettysburg (4-3, 1-0 CC), which has won every league opener dating back to 1995, and Ursinus (3-3, 0-1 CC) battled through windy conditions at the game's start as the two squads managed just one shot in the opening 20 minutes. After tallying a pair of goals against Moravian College on Thursday, Bayon put the Bullets on the scoreboard in the 22nd minute, taking a pass form senior Bobby Moore (Harpswell, Maine/Hyde School) on the right side of the goal and sending the ball past the Bear goalie into the lower left corner.

The hosts made it 2-0 just before the end of the opening stanza as Varner capitalized on a mistake by Ursinus goalie Ed de Gottal. Senior Jesse Gemberling-Johnson (Wyndmoor, Pa./Christopher Dock) sent a pass out to the left which de Gottal came out to retrieve, but Varner, who was sprinting on the hit, chipped the ball past the diving goalie and put the ball into the lower right corner for the easy score at 42:48.

After coming up with just four shots in the first period, Gettysburg went on the attack early in the second half, firing off a handful of shots. The barrage finally paid off in the 60th minute as Bayon picked up his second goal of the day and fourth of the season via a back-tap from sophomore Jeff Sapolsky (Annandale, Va./W.T. Woodson). The score was Bayon's 20th career goal, while Sapolsky picked up his first career assist.

With a comfortable 3-0 lead, the Bullets capped the day with a pair of goals less than three minutes apart. Varner had a hand in both, first assisting on Geoff Menge's (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) header at 73:46, and then booting home his second goal at 76:17. Junior Brandon Bell (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) tallied the assist on the second goal, crossing the ball in front of the goal from the baseline. Varner, who came into the game with three goals and one assist in his career, finished with a career-high five points.

Gettysburg owned the advantage in both shot attempts (18-6) and corner kicks (6-2). Junior Adam Finkel (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) stopped a pair of Bear shot attempts, while fellow junior Jeff Greenlaw (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) closed the final 6:11 without seeing a shot.

After playing four games since last Saturday, Gettysburg gets a much deserved break from competition. The Bullets return to the pitch on Saturday, Sept. 22, for another CC match, this time against the Mules of Muhlenberg College beginning at 7 p.m. under the lights of Clark Field.