Press Notes

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – For the third time in school history, the Gettysburg College men's lacrosse team will compete for a national championship when the fifth-ranked Bullets take on No. 4 SUNY Cortland in the NCAA Division III final on Sunday at noon.

The game will be played at Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL's New England Patriots and MLS's New England Revolution, in Foxborough, Mass., located 33 miles from Boston.

Gillette Stadium will also host the Division I semifinal and final and the Division II final. Top-ranked Syracuse and No. 3 Duke will play in the first Division I semifinal on Saturday at noon before No. 5 Virginia faces No. 7 Cornell at 2 p.m. Following the Division III championship, No. 1 Le Moyne will take on No. 2 C.W. Post in the Division II final at 3 p.m. The Division I final will be played on Monday at 1 p.m.

Ticket information for the entire weekend, along with directions, parking information, and more can be found at http://lax2009.kraftsportsgroup.com/index.html.

The Division III championship game will be televised live on CBS College Sports Network. The station is available on many cable and satellite systems, including Comcast Cable's Digital Sports Tier (channel 274 in Harrisburg, Hanover, Lancaster, and surrounding areas). More information on CBS College Sports Network can be accessed at http://www.cbssports.com/cbscollegesports/subscribe.

The game will also be covered through Livestats at a URL to be announced and on Twitter.

The Bullets last competed in the national championship game in 2002, the second year in a row Gettysburg advanced to the final. Gettysburg lost 15-10 to Middlebury in their inaugural title game appearance in 2001 and fell to Middlebury 14-9 in 2002.

Sunday's game will be a rematch of a game played between Gettysburg (16-3) and Cortland (18-2) earlier this season in on Long Island, where the Red Dragons prevailed 14-8.

A Bullets victory would mark a number of firsts and milestones in both program and school history. It would not only give the team its first national title, but it would also be the first NCAA national championship at Gettysburg and the first national title for any male sport at the College. A victory would give Gettysburg its second national title and first since the field hockey team won the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division IIII Championship in 1980.

In addition, the Bullets can break the program record for longest winning streak, as a win would extend it to 15. Gettysburg can also tie the single-season school record for wins with a victory.

Gettysburg reached the NCAA championship game by virtue of their 12-7 win at No. 1 Stevenson University in the semifinals on Sunday. The win was Gettysburg's second victory over a top-ranked opponent on the road this season, as the Bullets also knocked off No. 1 Salisbury on March 28.

The Bullets have been led in the postseason by junior midfielder Kyle McGrath (Randolph, N.J./Randolph). After scoring 15 goals and handing out six assists during 11 regular season games, he has erupted for 14 goals and four assists in the team's five Centennial Conference and NCAA playoff games. Ten of his goals have come in the team's three NCAA games, the most by a Gettysburg player since 2002.

Junior Josh Reichert (Englewood, Colo./Kent School) has also enjoyed an outstanding NCAA tournament, scoring seven goals. Classmate Joe Brody (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) has added four goals and five assists while senior Zach Pucci (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) has added four goals and four assists. Sophomore Danno Lynch (Medfield, Mass./Avon Old Farms) has contributed five goals.

Defensively, senior goalie Zach Furshman (Miami, Fla./Kent School [Conn.]) is coming off perhaps the top performance of his collegiate career. Furshman made a season-high 15 saves – one shy of his career-high – in the Bullets semifinal win over Stevenson. He stopped 13 of his shots in the second half, when the Mustangs outshot the Bullets 25-18.

The Red Dragons are competing in the national championship game for the sixth time in program history and playing in the title match for the fourth straight season. They have lost to Salisbury in each of the last two national championship games but defeated Salisbury in the 2006 championship for its lone national title.

Cortland advanced to the NCAA tournament after winning the SUNYAC title, squeezing by SUNY Geneseo 14-13. Like Gettysburg, the Red Dragons won their conference title on the road. Cortland went on to defeat Springfield 15-12 in the NCAA second round before beating Western New England 6-5 in the quarterfinals and topping Middlebury 16-8 in the semifinals. Cortland went on to host all three of its NCAA playoff games.

The Red Dragons have established themselves as an outstanding defensive team and rank ninth in Division III in scoring defense, yielding just 6.75 goals per game. Senior goalie Matt Hipenbecker has been the goalie of record in every game, posting a 7.11 goals-against average and a .514 save percentage. Offensively, Cortland ranks 12th nationally in scoring offense at 13.90 goals per game. Freshman Mike Tota is the team's top offensive threat with 48 goals while junior Brian Krol has notched 39 tallies. Senior Joey Morgan has is third on the team with 30 goals. Sophomore Jay DiStefano is tops among the Dragons in assists (25) while sophomore Chris DeLuca (26 goals, 20 assists) and freshman Greg Wright (22 goals, 23 assists) have also made their presence felt.

Cortland is also equipped with one of the top face-off specialists in Division III in DeLuca, who ranks fourth in the nation in face-off win percentage at 69.5%.

With a win on Sunday, Gettysburg would have defeated every team that it faced during the 2009 season. The Bullets defeated Haverford Haverford 12-5 in the Centennial Conference championship game after an 8-4 loss during the regular season and beat Stevenson after dropping a 16-6 decision in the Bullets second game of the year.