GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior Patrick Santini (Cos Cob, Conn./Greenwich) continued his red-hot start, posting two goals and one assist as the Gettysburg College men's soccer team topped non-conference foe Stevenson University 3-2 in its home opener Friday evening at Clark Field.
 
Freshman Sam Lerman (Wayzata, Minn./Field School) added one goal and two assists for the Bullets (3-0), who won their 10th straight home game, dating back to the 2015 season finale.
 
Sophomore Thomas Keane (Potomac, Md./Gonzaga College) made a pair of saves for Gettysburg, including a diving stop in the 88th minute that preserved the victory.
 
Santini flirted with a hat trick with a pair of breakaways late in the match. But his shot in the 81st minute sailed wide, and Stevenson goalie Jake Brown made a slide tackle with less than a minute to go.
 
The reigning Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week, Santini has now a hand in all six Gettysburg goals this season, netting four goals and two assists. He has also scored a goal in four straight games, dating back to last year's season finale.
 
In just the second-ever meeting between the two teams, the Bullets outshot Stevenson 18-7. The Mustangs captured the inaugural match-up in 2010.
 
Brown finished with four saves for Stevenson (1-2).
 
Gettysburg never trailed after Santini scored in the 16th minute. Lerman delivered a header from the top of the box, and Santini buried a left-footed shot inside the far post to hand his team the early lead.
 
The Mustangs pulled even in the 34th minute, when Tariq Lee rolled in a shot from the left wing, and it was a 1-1 game at the half. Gettysburg held a 6-4 shot advantage in the opening period.
 
Gettysburg went ahead to stay when it scored a pair of goals 1:37 apart early in the second half. In the 51st minute, Santini delivered a cross from the left side that was deflected by a defender to Lerman, who rifled in a shot in front of the net for his first collegiate goal. Santini then took a long pass from Lerman and raced it to the top of the box, where he tapped the ball past Brown and into the net, making it 3-1.
 
The Mustangs answered in the 59th minute, when Dylan Holy headed in a corner kick from Jordan Fields. But Gettysburg did not allow another shot until Keane turned in his spectacular stop, hauling in a blast from Iliyas Mirza, and the Mustangs' final shot was blocked by the defense.
 
The Bullets pick up their schedule on Sunday, when they visit York (Pa.) College at 4 p.m. in another non-conference affair.