SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Three different Bullets found the back of the net as the Gettysburg College men's soccer team clinched a Centennial Conference (CC) playoff berth with a 3-1 victory at Swarthmore in a CC match-up Saturday afternoon.
 
Sophomore Raff Mazzone (Nottingham, Md./Loyola Blakefield), freshman Sam Lerman (Wayzata, Minn./Field School), and sophomore Lawrence Ku (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) all scored for Gettysburg (12-3, 6-2 CC), which last appeared in the conference playoffs in 2010.
 
Mazzone and Ku each tallied their first collegiate for the Bullets, who can finish no worse than third in the conference standings and will receive a first-round bye in the playoffs. Following their victory over Swarthmore, the Bullets have earned 18 points are in second place in the conference behind Johns Hopkins (20 points), with third-place Franklin & Marshall (16 points) scheduled to visit Washington College Saturday night.
 
Gettysburg, ranked 21st in Division III by D3soccer.com, has posted its best record through 15 games since the 2002 squad was 11-2-2 and has registered its highest victory total since the 2007 team finished 12-7-1.
 
Sophomore Thomas Keane (Potomac, Md./Gonzaga College) made a pair of saves to earn the win in goal for the Bullets while Oliver Steinglass also turned aside two shots for the Garnet (4-9-3, 2-2-3 CC), which was eliminated from CC playoff contention.
 
The Bullets never trailed after Mazzone struck in the seventh minute, tapping in a shot following a deflection off Steinglass. In the meantime, Gettysburg turned in shutdown defense in the opening half, when it prevented Swarthmore from putting a shot on goal. Overall, the Bullets outshot the Garnet 7-3 and assumed a 1-0 halftime advantage.
 
Gettysburg doubled its lead in the 54th minute, when Lerman struck for his second collegiate goal. Senior Patrick Santini (Cos Cob, Conn./Greenwich) set up the tally with a strong cross through the box, and Lerman one-timed it home from the right post. Santini assisted on a goal for the second match in a row after entering the week ranked third in Division III in goals per game (1.38).
 
Swarthmore pulled to within a goal when Omri Gal scored off a rebound in the 63rd minute. But Ku gave the Bullets some breathing room nearly six minutes later. Senior defender David Murphy (Yarmouth, Maine/Yarmouth) set up the goal with a long pass from well beyond midfield, and Ku one-timed it in from the top of the 18, setting the final score.
 
The Garnet outshot the Bullets 8-7 in the second half, but that's when Keane made both of his saves. For the game, Gettysburg finished with a 14-11 shot advantage.
 
Gettysburg returns to action on Tuesday, when it visits Catholic University in a non-conference tilt beginning at 4 p.m. The Bullets close out the regular season next Saturday when it hosts Ursinus in a Centennial Conference match, also starting at 4 p.m.