Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Lynchburg College ended the game on a 9-0 run to erase a seven-goal deficit, and the fourth-ranked Hornets defeated the second-ranked Gettysburg College men's lacrosse team 11-9 in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III tournament Saturday afternoon at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
 
With the win, Lynchburg (21-2) advances to its first-ever NCAA Division III championship game and will take on the winner of the other semifinal between top-ranked RIT and fifth-ranked Tufts University, who face off on Sunday.
 
The game was lengthened by a pair of lightning delays totaling two hours and eight minutes.
 
Senior Jimmy Morris (Waccabuc, N.Y./John Jay) led the Bullets with a career-high three goals and one assist while junior Jameson Smith (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) added two goals and two assists. Senior Bijan Firouzan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) and sophomore Sean Fumai (Weston, Conn./Weston) contributed two goals apiece.
 
Freshman defenseman Dash Mindel (Larkspur, Calif./Branson School) paced the defense for the Bullets with three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior long-stick midfielder Owen Rothe (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) contributed four ground balls while freshman goalie Tim Brady (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) made eight saves.
 
Senior Robby Maddux (Baltimore, Md./St. Paul's) finished the game with one assist to conclude his career ranked third in school history in career points (224). He scored 61 goals for the season – second in school history – to finish with 166 career goals, just three shy of the school record set by Costa Alvanos '85 from 1982-85.
 
The Bullets conclude a banner season with a final record of 20-1. Gettysburg won three more games than any team in program history, put together the longest winning streak (20) in team history, and won the Centennial Conference title.
 
Austin Stewart led Lynchburg with four goals and two assists and scored the game's final three goals, the last of which tied the NCAA Division III single-season record of 107. Aaron Murphy added three goals and one assist for the Hornets while Colin McGuire contributed two goals and one assist.
 
After the first lightning delay pushed the start of the game back one hour, Murphy scored the game's opening goal 49 seconds into the contest, but the Bullets answered with a 9-1 run. Firouzan sandwiched a pair of goals around a Fumai tally before Chris Cornelius scored for the Hornets to make it 3-2. Then with 5:31 left in the first quarter play was halted due to lightning again as a rainstorm swept across the stadium.
 
It was all Bullets when play resumed. Smith struck with 4:34 left in the quarter to make it 4-2 before Morris tallied with 7:42 remaining in the first half, nudging the lead to 5-2. Morris and Fumai each found the back of the cage before the end of the half, giving the Bullets a 7-2 advantage heading into the locker room.
 
Gettysburg recorded its final two goals in the opening 7:24 of the first half, as Fumai scored with 10:09 remaining before a Morris tally handed the Bullets their 9-2 advantage with 8:36 showing in the quarter. However, with less than six minutes to go in the period Lynchburg heated up, reeling off eight goals in 10 minutes to reclaim the lead at 10-9 with 11:05 remaining. Stewart kicked off the surge when he scored with 5:52 left in the third quarter, and the Hornets added two more goals before the end of the period to pull to within 9-5.
 
Lynchburg continued its run with five more goals over the opening 4:55 of the fourth quarter. Their spurt was aided at the X, as they won the first four face-offs of the period. Stewart tied it with 12:06 remaining before burying what held up as the game-winner with 11:05 left. He added an empty-netter with 35 ticks showing for his record-tying goal.