Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Freshman Kyle DeBlois (Cranbury, N.J./Princeton) has been on a torrid offensive streak of late and the timing has been impeccable as the Gettysburg first-year's goal in the 87th minute vaulted the Bullets past visiting McDaniel College 3-2 and into the No. 2 seed for the 2008 Centennial Conference Tournament scheduled for Nov. 8-9.
Gettysburg (9-4-4, 5-2-2 CC) charges into the postseason riding a six-match unbeaten streak (5-0-1) which helped the team move from a playoff “maybe” to a favorite for the conference championship. DeBlois, the reigning CC Offensive Player of the Week, played a major role in the surge with a team-best 14 points on six goals and two assists over the final six matches of the season, including a goal and assist on Saturday night.
With the scoreboard knotted at two goals apiece heading into the final four minutes of regulation, a McDaniel defender attempted to head the ball back to the midfield, but the pass errantly flew back towards the Green Terror goal. DeBlois streaked past the remaining backs, controlled the ball, and took a stab at the goal. McDaniel keeper Michael Radcliffe charged the ball and stuffed DeBlois' first shot, but the ball popped up and the Bullets first-year headed it into the back of the net. It marked the sixth-straight game DeBlois has tallied a goal this fall and it was his second game-winner.
All of the match's offense erupted in the first half as the two teams battled to a scoreless tie in the opening 45 minutes. Gettysburg senior Chris Bayon (Langhorne, Pa./Lawrenceville School (N.J.)) was the first to break the egg, taking a pass from DeBlois and chipping a shot over an oncoming Radcliffe for his team-best ninth goal of the year.
McDaniel had an answer in the 61st minute when a long cross from Donald Dokas to the top of the box was kicked home by Joseph Potucek, tying the game at one.
The Bullets posted a dominating advantage on corner kicks at 14-3 and the attempts finally paid off in the 77th minute. Sophomore Teddy Smith (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) sent a curving liner towards the far post right to junior Geoff Menge (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West). Menge couldn't make an adjustment for a shot, opting to bounce the ball of his chest towards the far post where freshman Eric Hynes (Far Hills, N.J./Pingry School) was waiting to tap in his seventh goal of the season.
The Green Terror came right back with the same connection that worked earlier in the second period. Dokas sent another long pass near the left side of Gettysburg's box and Potucek converted the game-tying shot at 79:17 for his fourth goal this fall.
The Bullets controlled the ball offensively for most of the remaining 10 minutes in regulation, including forcing four consecutive corner kicks prior to DeBlois' game-winning score.
Gettysburg held a 22-13 lead in the shot department with 16 of those attempts coming in the second half alone. The Bullets also forced eight corner kicks in the final stanza.
Bayon led the hosts with six shot attempts, while Hynes and Menge posted five and four, respectively. In goal, Gettysburg posted four saves with senior goalkeeper Adam Finkel (Potomac, Md./ Winston Churchill) making a trio of stops and senior back Ross Witte (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) knocking away a potential score in the 12th minute.
Potucek led McDaniel with four shots, while Timothy Wineke tallied three. Radcliffe made several big stops on point-blank shot attempts and finished the evening with 10 saves overall.
The decision put Gettysburg in a three-way tie with Johns Hopkins (11-4-3, 5-2-2 CC) and Dickinson College (11-4-2, 5-2-2 CC), but the Bullets held the advantage in a tiebreaker based on head-to-head meetings. Gettysburg will meet Johns Hopkins in the semifinals of the CC Tournament hosted by Swarthmore College on Saturday, Nov. 8, at a time yet to be determined. The Bullets beat the nationally-ranked Blue Jays 3-1 in the regular season.
