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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – SUNY Cortland outscored Gettysburg 7-0 in the second and third quarters and the fourth-ranked Red Dragons, led by championship game MVP Brandon Misiaszek's five goals, held off a late rally to defeat the fifth-ranked Bullets 9-7 in the NCAA Division III national championship game Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.

The game was played before 24,072 fans, the second-most ever for a Division III championship game.

With the loss, Gettysburg (16-4) saw its school-record tying 14-game winning streak come to end. The Bullets also came up one win shy of tying the single-season school record for victories. It was the third national championship game appearance for the Bullets, who also reached the title game and lost to Middlebury in 2001 and 2002.

The 9-7 verdict was Gettysburg's closest margin of loss in their three final appearances and was the lowest combined goal total in championship history since 1987.

Gettysburg led 4-2 with 3:24 left in the first quarter before Cortland (19-2) held the Bullets scoreless over a 38:03 stretch. It was a 4-4 game at the half.

“I'm really proud of my team,” said Gettysburg head coach Hank Janczyk. “It was looking pretty grim for us after that third period. I thought we really played tough in the fourth period. I give Cortland a lot of credit. We had to make some pretty good adjustments at halftime to clear the ball, and I think our kids did a much better job.

“In the last eight or nine minutes, we really had some great opportunities. We didn't hit, and they hit in the third period, and that seems to be the story of the game.”

The Bullets were led by junior Kyle McGrath (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) and senior Zach Pucci (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood), who scored two goals apiece, while junior Joe Brody (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) scored one goal and handed out two assists. Senior Tom O'Donnell (Montgomeryville, Pa./La Salle College) added a goal and an assist, and senior goalie Zach Furshman (Miami, Fla./Kent School [Conn.]) came up with 12 saves.

McGrath's (left) two goals set his postseason total at 16 and his NCAA tournament total at 12, the most by a Bullet since Ric Bremer scored 17 and Pete Milliman scored 14 in 2002.

The game was eerily similar to the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season, when Cortland broke open a 5-5 halftime tie with a 6-0 third quarter en route to a 14-8 victory in a neutral-site game on Long Island March 7.

Brian Krol added two goals for Cortland while Mike Tota and Joey Morgan had one goal and one assist apiece. Matt Hipenbecker made 10 saves for the Red Dragons.

Cortland was competing in the national championship game for the fourth year in a row and the sixth time overall. The Dragons, who ended the season on a 12-game winning streak, won their second national title and their first since 2006.

Pucci finishes his career with 135 points on 71 goals – including a team-leading 36 as a senior – and 64 assists while O'Donnell ended with 88 points on 49 goals and 39 assists. Furshman finishes with a career record of 28-7.

“The season started off pretty slowly,” said Furshman. “Every game we just figured out the kinks and got better and better. Today I still think we played pretty well. We had a nice long run and it could have happened today but it wasn't our day.”

The Bullets scored on their first shot of the game. After Furshman saved the game's opening shot, O'Donnell cleared it for the Bullets before dishing it to Josh Reichert (Englewood, Colo./Kent School). The junior buried Gettysburg's first shot of the day – his 33rd goal of the season – pump-faking high before beating Hipenbecker low to make it 1-0 1:36 into the contest.

Cortland tied it up just over a minute later, as Brandon Misiaszek beat Furshman to his right on a long blast from the right. But the Bullets answered with 11:19 on the clock, when McGrath sent home his first goal of the game, converting a spinning shot to make it 2-1.

The Red Dragons pulled even again midway through the quarter, when freshman Brian Krol scored his 49th goal of the season right after a Red Dragon face-off win. But the Bullets reclaimed the lead when McGrath struck again, wrapping around the goal before depositing a shot from the left, putting Gettysburg in front 3-2.

Pucci (right) added to the lead with 3:24 on the clock. After accepting a cross-crease pass from Brody, Pucci sent home a one-timer from the left post, giving the Orange & Blue a 4-2 advantage.

Gettysburg nearly pushed their lead to three with 1:01 left when a point-blank shot from Brody bounced out quickly, either off the goal or the out of the goalie's stick, but no goal was counted, and the Bullets enjoyed a two-goal advantage after one quarter of play.

The Dragons opened their 7-0 run with 12:17 to go in the second quarter, with Tota scoring off an assist from Morgan. The Bullets struggled to hold onto the ball for the remainder of the quarter, committing five straight turnovers before Miziaszek bounced home a shot from the right wing, tying it at 4-4 with 2:42 on the clock.

Cortland turned it over with 27 seconds left, but the Bullets were unable to get a clear look at the goal after its clear.

After the Bullets outshot Cortland 12-7 in the opening quarter, the Red Dragons owned a 9-2 shot advantage in the second quarter.

Cortland took its first lead just 30 seconds into the second half, as Miziaszek converted off a Gettysburg turnover to make it 5-4. It was just the second time the Bullets trailed in the NCAA tournament and the first time since Denison University took a 1-0 lead 14 seconds into their quarterfinal game.

Miziaszek struck again with 10:38 on the clock, drilling in a quick turnaround shot from straight on, to make it 6-4. Cortland then controlled possession over a large portion of the quarter before scoring two quick goals late in the stanza. Morgan scored in front of the goal with 4:05 on the clock before Krol converted on the Dragons first man-up situation of the game, pushing Cortland's advantage to 8-4 with 3:56 to go.

Miziaszek beat the horn to give Cortland its final goal of the quarter, sending home a runner from the right with just 1.6 seconds showing as the Red Dragons lead swelled to 9-4 at the end of the third period.

O'Donnell broke Gettysburg's scoring drought with 10:21 left in the game. Brody delivered a pass from behind the goal to O'Donnell, who drilled in a shot into the top-left corner of the net to make it 9-5.

After Cortland held the ball for a long stretch, Pucci scored off a feed from sophomore Danno Lynch (Medfield, Mass./Avon Old Farms [Conn.]) with 4:09 to go. Brody set the final score with 27 seconds left on a feed from senior Tommy Kehoe (Coraopolis, Pa./Sewickley Academy) in transition.

Sophomore Matt Griffo (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) won the ensuing face-off, and the Bullets had a chance to pull to within one, but junior Patrick Koehl (Shamong, N.J./St. Joseph's Prep [Pa.]) had his shot saved with nine seconds left, and Hipenbecker launched the ball downfield to kill off the remainder of the clock.

The Division III Player of the Year and Long Pole Midfielder of the Year, Kehoe finished with five ground balls and five caused turnovers in his final collegiate outing. Senior defenseman Yanni Peary (South Portland, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) added four ground balls.

Cortland finished with a 33-31 advantage in shots and won 11-of-20 face-offs. The Bullets held a 33-32 edge in ground balls.