Box Score

WESTMINSTER, Md. – The Gettysburg College men's lacrosse team's regular-season finale lacked nothing in drama.
 
Needing a victory to clinch a berth in the Centennial Conference (CC) playoffs, the Bullets overcame a five-goal fourth-quarter deficit by scoring the game's final six goals to stun host McDaniel College 16-15 Saturday afternoon.
 
With the win, Gettysburg (9-6, 5-3 CC) earns the fourth seed in the conference playoffs and will visit sixth-ranked and top-seeded Washington College on Wednesday at a time to be announced.
 
Sophomore Jameson Smith (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) provided some late-game heroics for the Orange and Blue, scoring the team's final three goals over a 5:24 span, including the game-winner at the 2:35 mark.
 
Senior Martin Manilla (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) poured in five goals and one assist for the Bullets to cap a red-hot week in which he posted 11 goals and four assists over two games. His final goal of the day moved him into a three-way tie for 10th in school history in career goals (116).
 
Junior Robby Maddux (Baltimore, Md./St. Paul's) and senior Derek Ruebling (Morristown, N.J./Delbarton) added one goal and two assists for Gettysburg, which will make its 14th consecutive appearance in the conference playoffs. Freshman Kyle Hewett (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) won 14-of-25 face-offs while senior Jon Maddalone (Carolina Beach, N.C./Choate Rosemary Hall [Conn.]) made nine saves over three quarters of action. He played the opening half, gave way to freshman Thomas McBride (Baltimore, Md./Gillman School) for the third quarter, then returned for the fourth quarter, blanking the Green Terror for the final 14 minutes.
 
Patrick Serio led McDaniel (6-9, 3-5 CC) with seven goals while Christian Dallmus made 10 saves.
 
The Green Terror led 15-10 after Serio scored his final goal of the day – a man-up tally 12 seconds into the fourth quarter – before the Bullets embarked on their comeback. Ruebling sparked the rally with his goal at the 14:16 mark before Manilla followed up with his final marker of the day with 10:10 remaining.
 
Gettysburg made it a two-goal game when senior face-off specialist Wes Lincoln (McLean, Va./Landon) scored off the ensuing draw for his second career goal before Smith took over late. He converted a Ruebling dish with 7:49 to go, then tied it with an unassisted goal with 5:17 showing.
 
After a McDaniel turnover, the Bullets called timeout with 3:38 remaining. Just over a minute later, Smith accepted a pass from Maddux before burying the game-winning shot stick-side from the top left from around 14 yards out.
 
Gettysburg won the ensuing face-off but the Green Terror gained possession on a turnover. McDaniel attempted a pair of potential game-tying shots, but both were off the mark.
 
The Bullets wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Hewett won the opening face-off, raced downfield and scored just 10 seconds into the contest. Manilla put the Bullets up one later in the quarter before McDaniel answered with three straight goals to take a 4-2 lead.
 
Gettysburg closed out the quarter with a 3-0 run of its own, however, to take a 5-4 lead heading into the second quarter. Junior Bijan Firouzan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) kicked off the spurt when he scored an unassisted tally, then 13 seconds later freshman attackman Reed Barbe (Greenwich, Conn./Suffield Academy), making his first collegiate start, assisted Maddux to pick up his first career point. Manilla capped the run when he scored with 37 seconds on the clock as the Bullets reclaimed the lead.
 
The Green Terror scored just over two minutes into the second quarter to tie the game at 5-5. But the Bullets had the answer once again, scoring the next three goals to take the lead for the remainder of the half. Barbe deposited his first collegiate goal before the Morris twins added back-to-back tallies. Junior Brendan Morris (Waccabuc, N.Y../John Jay) converted a man-up opportunity with 9:16 to go in the half before Jimmy Morris (Waccabuc, N.Y./John Jay) scored unassisted three minutes later.
 
McDaniel snapped the run when Serio scored twice in the last three minutes to make it an 8-7 game heading into halftime.
 
Manilla nudged Gettysburg's lead to 9-7 when he scored just under three minutes into the second half. However, the Terror used another 3-0 run to reclaim the lead at 10-9 with 7:20 left in the third quarter.
 
Manilla pulled the Bullets even when he scored his fourth goal of the day with 4:42 showing on the third-quarter clock. However, that's when McDaniel reeled off a 5-0 run that spanned into the fourth quarter, setting up Gettysburg's furious finish.
 
The Green Terror finished with advantages in shots (46-38) and ground balls (28-27).