GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Wesleyan (Conn.) University kept its incredible postseason run alive by waiting out a pair of long weather delays and holding on to beat top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Gettysburg College 10-7 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Championship at Clark Field Sunday.
 
One day after beating No. 2 Washington and Lee University, Wesleyan (17-3) managed to dethrone the Bullets behind a sterling defensive effort that forced 21 turnovers and received 10 saves by goalie Allegra Grant. The Cardinals advance to the national semifinals for the first time in school history and will face fellow New England Small College Athletic Conference colleague Middlebury College next Saturday at Randolph-Macon College.
 
Gettysburg (19-2) opened Sunday's contest with fire in its eyes as junior Liza Barr (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) scored the first two goals with senior Steph Colson (Westminster, Md./Manchester Valley) and Ella Orzechowski (Elkridge, Md./Howard) picking up assists.
 
Wesleyan capitalized on a pair of turnovers by the hosts to tie the game. Abby Manning played a part in both tallies, scoring an unassisted goal at 18:53 before dishing out an assist to Kat Cucullo to tie things up 2-2 two minutes later.
 
Senior goalie Bailey Pilder (Rowayton, Conn./New Canaan) kept the Cardinals at bay with saves on three consecutive possessions, but Grant equaled her cage counterpart with a trio of stops on the other end of the field. The Bullets jumped in front 3-2 on a goal by senior Lauren Cole (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) with 9:36 left in the first half.
 
Wesleyan seized the momentum going into the break with the final four goals of the half. Manning tossed in the first two before Caitlin Wood slipped past her defender and beat Pilder to the right to make it 5-3. The Cardinals took advantage of another turnover by the Bullets in the final seconds as Manning found Cucullo for a 6-3 lead.
 
Facing a halftime deficit for just the second time this season, Gettysburg came out ready to go in the final period. Junior Courtney Patterson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) seized each of the first two draw controls and McKeever converted two quick tallies to slice the deficit to 6-5. Manning countered for the Cardinals and scored an unassisted goal to push the lead back to two (7-5) with 25 minutes left.
 
The opposing defenses locked things up over the next five minutes with the teams totaling four caused turnovers and a pair of saves. A turnover by the Cardinals led to another goal by McKeever and pulled the hosts within a goal (7-6) with 20:35 on the clock.
 
That's where the score stood when the first lightning delay occurred with 17:16 remaining. After 40 minutes, play resumed and it was Wesleyan that seized the momentum as Johanna Copeland scored on a player-up opportunity with 15:30 remaining. Grant came up with a stop on a shot by Colson five minutes later and Caitlin Wood converted shortly after to push the lead to 9-6.
 
Grant continued to hold the Gettysburg attackers at bay down the stretch. The Cardinal goalie, who made 11 saves against Washington and Lee on Saturday, came up with back-to-back stops on shots by Colson and McKeever before lighting halted play again with 4:16 remaining. After play resumed an hour later, Wesleyan made the most of a yellow card on the Bullets with Manning dishing off to Sydney Prokupek for a goal and a 10-6 lead with 2:35 to play.
 
Patterson tallied Gettysburg's last goal with 2:12 left, but Manning was able to track down the final draw control and the Cardinals ate up most of the remaining time to lock up the win.
 
Gettysburg finished with the edge in shots (23-20), ground balls (18-17), and draw controls (11-8). The Bullets established new program records for points (542) and assists (198) this spring.
 
McKeever paced the Bullets with three goals and seven draw controls, while Barr tallied two goals and an assist. The junior attacker capped off the season with the second-most points in program history (127) and a school-record 75 assists. Patterson finished with one goal, four ground balls, two caused turnovers, and three draw controls. She became just the third Gettysburg player with 100 draw controls in a single season.
 
Colson tallied an assist, two ground balls, a draw control, and three caused turnovers. She finished her career fourth on the program's career list with 234 draw controls. Pilder posted six saves and a ground ball. She finished second in school history in GAA (6.61).
 
Colson, Pilder, and fellow seniors Brooke Holechek (Reisterstown, Md./Notre Dame Prep), Shelby Fragetta (Baltimore, Md./Towson), Lauren Cole (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand), and Katrina Niedziela (Guilford, Conn./Guildford) closed their careers having led Gettysburg to two national championships (2017, 2018), three Centennial Conference titles (2016, 2017, 2018), four NCAA appearances, and record of 79-10.
 
Manning led Wesleyan with four goals and three assists. Wood and Cucullo each tallied a pair of goals, and Prokupek posted a goal and two assists. Caroline Sgaglione finished with seven ground balls, two draw controls, and two caused turnovers. Grant finished the game with 10 saves.