GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior Maddie Heaney (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands Regional) scored the game-winning goal with 17:52 remaining and the Gettysburg College women's soccer team celebrated Senior Night with a 1-0 playoff-clinching victory over Dickinson in Centennial Conference (CC) action Saturday evening at Clark Field.
 
With the win, the Bullets (9-6-2, 6-4 CC) secured the fifth and final spot in Centennial Conference championship tournament and will visit fourth-seeded McDaniel in the first-round match on Wednesday at a time to be announced.
 
The Bullets' six seniors were honored in a brief ceremony prior to the start of the match.
 
Each side finished with 10 shots on the night. Sophomore Brittany Smith (Dublin, Pa./Pennridge) registered four saves en route to her first collegiate shutout for the Bullets. She was making just her second collegiate start in place of injured starter Kerry Sammon (Pearl River, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Angels).
 
Mary Kate Brosnan made three saves for the Red Devils, who close out the season 11-5-1 (5-4-1 CC).
 
The two sides entered the night separated by just one point in the conference standings, with Dickinson holding fifth place with 16 points. The Red Devils needed just a tie to clinch the final playoff spot while the Bullets were in a must-win situation.
 
Gettysburg came out aggressive early on and outshot Dickinson 6-3 in the opening half. But Brosnan made a pair of stops for the Red Devils. At the other end of the field, all three Dickinson shots were on frame, but Smith turned aside all three.
 
The Red Devils threatened just before Heaney's goal, firing off a pair of dangerous shots. But freshman defender Jules Myers (Strasburg, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) headed away a rip from the outside that appeared to be headed for the net, and eight seconds later Smith saved a quickly-redirected header in front of the goal.
 
Heaney finally broke through for the Bullets in the 73rd minute. Junior Samantha Esposito (Portage, Mich./Portage Central) crossed a ball into the box that was deflected by Brosnan. Heaney swooped in and one-touched around the keeper before firing into a wide-open net, bringing a large Gettysburg crowd to its feet with her third goal of the season.
 
Although Dickinson would manage three more shots the rest of the way, none were on frame as the Bullets held on to clinch the program's eighth-straight Centennial Conference playoff appearance under Head Coach Matt Garrett.