Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Freshman Tommy Heller (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) piled up five goals and one assist and the defense tossed a shutout for the opening 54 minutes, vaulting the seventh-ranked Gettysburg College men's lacrosse team to a 9-2 victory over No. 17 Ursinus College in the Centennial Conference (CC) championship game Saturday afternoon at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
 
The Bullets (14-2), who outscored the Bears 9-0 to start the game, pushed their winning streak to 12 and captured their second-straight Centennial title and the 15th in program history.
 
With their victory, the Bullets earn an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III tournament. The field will be announced Sunday at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com.
 
Heller finished with tournament records of 15 points and 11 goals, earning tournament MVP honors. He also scored a tournament single-game record nine points on six goals and three assists in Gettysburg's 18-8 semifinal victory over Swarthmore College on Wednesday.
 
The Bullets tied a tournament record for fewest goals allowed, with senior goalie Jake Adoni (Fort Washington, Pa./Germantown Academy) finishing with 13 saves. Senior defenseman Geoff Davis (Jefferson, Md./McDonogh School) picked up seven ground balls and caused two turnovers while sophomore Geoff Fulgione (North Andover, Mass./Brooks School) finished 8-for-15 on face-offs.
 
Brian Neff made eight saves for Ursinus (14-3), which also lost to the Bullets in last year's Centennial Conference final. The two sides have now played five times in the last two years, including three times in the postseason.
 
Heller put Gettysburg on the scoreboard with 7:06 left in the first quarter before freshman Blake Gray (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh School) struck just over a minute later to hand the Bullets a 2-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
Heller made it a 3-0 game when he scored in transition off an assist from sophomore Brendan Hathaway (Darien, Conn./Darien) with 11:19 left in the second period, then assisted on a tally from sophomore Patrick Decker (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) with 7:50 showing. Freshman Andrew Garstka (Springfield, Va./Paul VI Catholic) capped the first-half scoring when he buried a shot with 1:32 left to make it a 5-0 game at the half.
 
The Bullets doubled up the Bears on shots (20-10) over the opening 30 minutes, when Adoni made four of his saves and Fulgione was 6-for-7 on face-offs.
 
Gettysburg continued to pull away in the third quarter, when it cashed in on both of its extra-man opportunities. Senior Paul Werner (Westfield, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) converted a feed from junior Ivan Morris (Houston, Texas/Houston Christian) with 11:55 on the clock before Heller buried his third goal of the game with 9:40 showing.
 
Ursinus outshot the Bullets 8-6 in the third quarter, but that's when Adoni made six of his saves.
 
Heller made it three in a row when he scored twice over a three-minute span, handing the Bullets their 9-0 lead with 8:04 remaining. Logan Panaccione broke up the shutout for Ursinus when he scored a man-up goal with 5:33 left before Peter DeSimone converted in transition with 4:14 to go to set the final verdict.
 
Gettysburg finished with advantages in shots (32-26) and ground balls (29-22) while going 18-for-19 on clears.