CHESTER, Pa. – On the day he became just the eighth player in the history of Gettysburg College men's lacrosse to reach 200 career points, senior Brian Kolen (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) made sure his team would pick up a victory as well, tossing in the go-ahead goal with 1:17 remaining to lead the 12th-ranked Bullets (5-1) to a 12-10 win over Widener University (4-1) in a non-conference match up Saturday afternoon at Quick Stadium.
 

Gettysburg's Top Performers

• Brian Kolen '20 – 3 Goals, 2 Assists, 2 Ground Balls
• Michael McCormick '20 (Lorton, Va./Paul VI Catholic) – 4 Goals, Assist, Caused Turnover
• Jack Fletcher '21 (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day School) – Goal, Assist
• Scott MacMillan '22 (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) – 9 Saves, 5 Ground Balls
• Mitch Wykoff '20 (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) – 4 Ground Balls, Assist
• Andrew Horn '21 (Bronxville, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) – 6 Ground Balls
• Alex Ulrich '21 (Bethesda, Md./St. Mary's) – 15-22 Face-offs, 5 Ground Balls, Goal, Assist

 
Widener's Top Performers

• John Dunbar – 3 Goals, 5 Ground Balls
• Connor Heisman – 2 Goals, 3 Ground Balls
• Connor Ball – 2 Goals
• Brian Maienshein – 5 Ground Bals, Caused Turnover
• Carter Landry – 8 Saves, Ground Ball, Caused Turnover

 
How It Happened…

• First Quarter
  • Widener's defense forced Gettysburg into seven turnovers in the opening 15 minutes of play. The Pride jumped on the board with a pair of quick back-to-back goals, the first by Ball at 12:49 and the second by Hesiman 82 seconds later.
  • The Bullets made a turnover by the hosts count as McCormick connected following a feed by sophomore Griffin Gallagher (Ardmore, Pa./Shipley School) at 7:55. Gettysburg turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions before Dunbar scored to give Widener a 3-1 lead heading into the next period.
• Second Quarter
  • The Bullets disrupted the Pride offense for a pair of turnovers to start the quarter and Kolen found junior Nick Cooper (Glen Gardner, N.J./Gill St. Bernard's) to cut the margin to 3-2 at 13:41. Dunbar scored an unassisted tally just over a minute later to push the advantage back to two.
  • Gettysburg seized control with three quick goals. Junior defensive midfielder Connor Leach (Wolfeboro, N.H./Brewster Academy) began the run with his first career goal at 7:33 and after winning the ensuing face-off, Ulrich found Kolen 12 seconds later. The Bullets took a 5-4 lead on a man-up goal by freshman Kyle Howard (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery) at 5:44.
  • Paz Gismondi tied the game 5-5 at 3:58, but Widener picked up a pair of penalties at the end of the half that would set the stage for more offense by the Bullets to kick off the second half.
• Third Quarter
  • Gettysburg wasted no time breaking the tie as Kolen dished to McCormick 17 seconds into the third period. Dunbar tied the game at 12:34, but Kolen came right back with another goal just eight seconds later. Landry posted a pair of saves on shots by Cooper and the Pride tied the game once again on a shot by Heisman with 5:02 to go in the period.
  • MacMillan thwarted four shots by Widener over the final four minutes of the third quarter and McCormick scored with 46 seconds left to hand Gettysburg an 8-7 lead going into the final period.
• Fourth Quarter
  • The Bullets once again scored off the opening face-off of the period as Fletcher lit the lamp following a pass from Wykoff. The two-goal lead was short-lived as Chad Allison and Nick Diiorio scored back-to-back goals less than a minute apart.
  • Ulrich recorded his first goal of the season to put Gettysburg back in front 10-9 with 12:16 left. Ball found the equalizer for the Pride, scoring on a pass from Gismondi to force the sixth tie of the contest with 9:52 to go.
  • The opposing defenses went on lockdown over the next eight minutes, forcing a combined seven turnovers. The final turnover by the Pride set up the Bullets for the go-ahead score with McCormick feeding Kolen in the middle and the senior attackman ripping a high shot past Landry. McCormick added some insurance, evading Landry and a defender to score an empty-net goal with 34 seconds left.

 
By the Numbers

• Gettysburg finished with a 35-33 lead in shots and a 38-35 edge in ground balls. The Bullets won 16-of-23 face-offs.
• The Orange and Blue have dominated the second half this season, out-scoring opponents 37-15. Gettysburg goalies have also posted 50 saves in the final 30 minutes compared to just 24 by opposing keepers.
• Kolen became just the eighth player to reach 200 career points and the first since Robby Maddux '15 in 2015. He slid into seventh on the program's all-time list and is eight points behind Joe Brody '10 for sixth. The senior attackman also tied Pete Milliman '02 for seventh on the career goals list with 138, which is one behind Brody for sixth.
• A dozen players have already hit the scoring column for Gettysburg this season, including four (Kolen, Fletcher, McCormick, Cooper) with 10 or more goals.
• MacMillan added to his conference-leading save total and now has 84 through six games. He also paces the Centennial with a save percentage of .661.

 
Where the Series Stands
Gettysburg improved to 28-1 all-time against Widener. The Bullets have won the last seven meetings since the Pride's only series victory in 2013.
 
Next Up
Gettysburg hits the road to face Washington & Lee University (3-3) on Wednesday, March 11, at 5 p.m.