Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore Tim Brady (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) made 14 saves and the ninth-ranked Gettysburg College men's lacrosse team earned a big 11-6 Centennial Conference (CC) victory over No. 16 Ursinus College on Senior Day at Shirk Field at Musselman Saturday afternoon.
 
Gettysburg (9-2, 5-0 CC), which won its seventh game in a row, entered the contest tied with Ursinus (10-2, 4-1 CC) for first place in the conference standings and held the Bears to their lowest scoring output since March 5.
 
The Bullets led from start to finish and pulled away in the fourth quarter, when they outscored Ursinus 5-2.
 
The game marked a rematch of last year's Centennial Conference championship game and a second-round NCAA Division III tournament game, which were also won by the Orange and Blue.
 
Gettysburg's six seniors were honored before the game, and at halftime several members of the 1976 Bullet lacrosse squad were recognized for becoming the first team in program history to win a conference title.
 
Brady equaled his jersey number (13) in saves for the fourth time this season while backstopping a defense that is yielding just four goals per game in Centennial Conference play. He also picked up ground balls.
 
Junior long-stick midfielder Chris Palladino (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) contributed to the Bullets' big defensive effort with six ground balls and two caused turnovers while senior defenseman Geoff Davis (Jefferson, Md./McDonogh School) added four grounders and two caused turnovers.
 
Senior Paul Werner (Westfield, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) scored three goals while junior Reed Barbe (Greenwich, Conn./Suffield Academy) notched one goal and three assists. Freshman Blake Gray (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh School) added  two goals and one assist while senior Mike Distler (Lutherville, Md./Loyola Blakefield) and freshman Andrew Garstka (Springfield, Va./Paul VI Catholic) added two goals apiece.
 
Tucker Noel scored two goals for Ursinus while Brian Neff made seven saves. James Fairchild won 11 of 19 face-offs.
 
Werner and Garstka scored six minutes apart in the first quarter to put the Bullets up 2-0. The Bears pulled to within a goal when Peter DeSimone scored off a rebound with 2:07 left in the first quarter. Ursinus outshot the Bullets 11-7 in the opening period, but that's when Brady made five of his saves.
 
The Bullets extended their lead to 4-1 just five minutes into the second quarter, when Gray and Garstka both found the back of the net. Noel answered for Ursinus with 8:36 remaining, and the scoreboard would read 4-2 heading into the half.
 
Gettysburg assumed a 6-2 lead after Distler scored a man-up goal with 8:33 left in the third quarter before Gray struck with 5:17 showing. However, the Bears answered right back with two goals of their own and it was a 6-4 game entering the final period.
 
The Bullets opened up some breathing room with a 3-0 run to open the fourth quarter. Werner and Barbe scored 20 second apart to make it 8-4 with 12:08 left before Werner cashed in again with 4:02 to go.
 
Ursinus stopped the run with an Ian Desenberg goal with 3:18 remaining that made it 9-5, but freshman Tommy Heller (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) answered with 2:36 left. Distler set the final score with a man-up tally with 38 seconds left.
 
Gettysburg returns to action next Saturday, when it visits McDaniel College at 7 p.m. in another Centennial Conference affair.