CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Gettysburg College men's soccer team played a physical game against Kean University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on a cold Saturday night but came up on the short end of a 3-1 defeat at host SUNY Cortland.  
 
Final Result

Teams	1	2	F
Kean (13-4-3)	2	1	3
Gettysburg (13-6-2)	1	0	1

 
Top Performers – Gettysburg
- Aidan Muller '25 (Cape Town, South Africa/Putnam Science Academy) – Goal
- Jonathan Molina '22 (Adelphi, Md./DeMatha Catholic) - Assist
- Kevin Muhic '24 (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) – 9 Saves (Career-High)
 
Top Performers – Kean
- N. Theoudoulidis – 2 Goals
- Sadeiki Roberts – Goal
- Felix Pereyra – Assist
- Dominic Ridge – 4 Saves
 
How It Happened…

• First Half: Gettysburg's leading scorer Connor Fife (Newtown, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) looked to put the Bullets ahead in the 15th minute, but his shot went just high over the upper right corner. Four minutes later, the Orange and Blue would take a 1-0 lead as Muller headed the ball into the back of the net off a free kick pass from Molina. Just over two minutes later, Theoudoulidis grabbed the loose ball and shot from about 25 yards out, Muhic had his hands on it, but it rolled past and into the goal to tie it up at 1-1. The Cougars gained the lead when Roberts scored on a through ball from Pereyra seven minutes later. The Bullets thought they had tied it again when Pape Diallo (Jamaica, N.Y./Proctor Academy [N.H.]) drilled the ball in for a goal with one minute remaining, but it was waved off due to a foul. The score stayed in favor of Kean 2-1 at halftime.  
• Second Half: Muhic stopped four shots in the first half and continued to work hard between the pipes as he opened the second half with three saves. Both Gettysburg and Kean fired away at the net as the two teams combined for 15 shots with seven on goal, including an attempt by freshman Aidan Gaynor (Parsippany, N.J./Pingry School) with under four minutes remaining. Gaynor collected the loose ball, turned and, Ridge made the diving stop. Junior Jack Carroll (Leonia, N.J./Bergen Catholic) notched the rebound and shot to what looked like an open net, but a Kean defender stopped the shot from going past the line. Theoudoulidis accrued his second goal of the game 32 seconds later as he beat out a defender and shot inside the left shot to advance to the second-round game against fifth-ranked SUNY Cortland on Sunday.   

By the Numbers

• Kean held the slight 15-14 advantage in shots while Gettysburg finished with the 8-1 edge in corner kicks.
• The Bullets posted their second 13-win campaign in four years.
• As a team, the Bullets tallied the fifth-most points (141), goals (48), and assists (45) in single-season history.
• Muhic posted a tie in single-season history for the most games played by a goalkeeper with 21 and the sixth most wins (13).
• The Bullets lone senior Molina closed out his career with 40 games, 36 starts, and 19 points (five goals, nine assists). 

Where the Series Stands Now
Tonight's game marked the first-ever meeting between Gettysburg and Kean in men's soccer.