Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior
Henry Smith (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner on a free kick in the second overtime, to lift the Gettysburg College men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over The College of New Jersey in a non-conference match Wednesday evening at Clark Field.
With the win, Gettysburg (8-3-1) earned its first-ever men's soccer victory over TCNJ (7-7-2), which was 4-0-1 all-time versus the Bullets entering the night. The two sides were meeting for the first time since the Lions' 2-0 victory in the 1997 NCAA Division III quarterfinals.
The Bullets continued to play well on its current five-game homestand, moving to 3-0-1 over the stretch while staying undefeated (5-0-2) at home for the season.
Just 1:17 into the second overtime, Smith was fouled just outside the box while attempting a shot off a cross from junior
Patrick Santini (Cos Cob, Conn./Greenwich). Smith then hooked a shot into the upper-left corner of the net for his third game-winner of the season.
Smith, the reigning Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week, has been red-hot as of late, scoring six goals over his last four matches. He also scored twice in the team's 2-2 tie versus Dickinson this past Saturday. Smith has now scored 10 goals for the season – the most since Chris Bayon '09 posted 12 goals in 2007.
Freshman
Thomas Keane (Potomac, Md./Gonzaga College) started in goal for Gettysburg and made a pair of saves while blanking TCNJ in the first half. Junior
Max Karen (Huntington, N.Y./Elwood-John Glenn) came on to stop four shots over the final 56:17.
The win marked career victory No. 250 for Gettysburg head coach
Mark Mettrick, who is now 27-14-4 in this third season at Gettysburg. He was also 166-84-25 in 14 years at Loyola College and 57-42-12 in six years at Mount St. Mary's University.
The Bullets dominated play in the first half, when it held the Lions without a shot for the opening 36 minutes. In the meantime, Gettysburg attempted four shots, including a rip from freshman
Precious Ozoh (Abuja, Nigeria/Holderness School [N.H.]) in the 24th minute that hit the crossbar.
The Bullets broke through in the 31st minute, when Santini rolled a pass from midfield to a streaking Smith, who pulled up at the top of the box before tapping the ball past an on-rushing keeper Alan Miller to make it a 1-0 game.
Keane made a big stop on TCNJ's first shot of the night, turning aside a well-struck ball from point-blank range in the 39th minute. Hogue had an open look at the net on the rebound but unloaded high.
The Bullets finished with a 7-3 shot advantage in the first half.
The Lions pulled even early in the second half. Peter Dresch lofted a pass from the right wing inside the box, and Sam Monaco tracked down a loose ball at the left post and drilled it into the net to pull the visitors even.
The goal seemed to spark the TCNJ offense, which went on to outshoot the Bullets 12-7 in the stanza. The Lions had a pair of just-misses late the half, first on a header from Dresch in the 78th minute that hit the crossbar, then on a turnaround blast from Mateo Panizza in the 89th minute that was knocked down by Karen.
Gettysburg also threatened late in regulation. Ozoh slanted a shot across the goalmouth that was tipped by a diving Miller, who also saved a rebound from junior
David Murphy (Yarmouth, Maine/Yarmouth).
The Bullets had the upper hand in the first overtime, outshooting the Lions 5-1. But each keeper made a save in the period, including a big stop from Karen on another missile from Panizza midway through the extra session, setting up Smith's heroics.
Gettysburg closes out its homestand on Saturday, when it takes on Washington College in a Centennial Conference tilt at 7 p.m. on Senior Night.
