GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior Jack Fletcher (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day School) scored on a baseline drive with eight seconds left in overtime to send 10th-ranked Gettysburg College (2-0) past No. 13 Ursinus College (1-1) in a rematch of the 2019 Centennial Conference Championship final at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium on Saturday.
 
Gettysburg's Top Performers

• Jack Fletcher '21: 3 Goals
• Kyle Howard '23 (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery): 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 2 Ground Balls
• Kieran Ward '22 (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep): Goal, Assist
• Quinton Mather '24 (Avon, Conn./Avon Old Farms): Goal, Assist
• Aidan Wykoff '23 (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe): Goal, Assist
• Zack Kinsella '23 (Annapolis, Md./Severn School): 4 Ground Balls
• Alex Ulrich '21 (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's): 8-15 Face-Offs, 2 Ground Balls
• Nolan Sullivan '24 (Wilmington, Mass./Holderness): 11 Saves, 2 Ground Balls
   

Ursinus' Top Performers

• Aaron Grill: 3 Goals, Assist, 4 Ground Balls
• Tommy Reinhart: 2 Goals
• Hakan Atillasoy: Goal, 2 Assists, 2 Ground Balls, 2 Caused Turnovers
• Tyler Falco: Goal, 2 Assists
• Ben Goetz: 4 Ground Balls, Caused Turnover
• Chris Porzelt: 10 Saves

 
How It Happened…

• First Quarter
  • The action was fast and furious to start the game as the teams combined for seven goals in the opening quarter. Reinhart kicked things off with a goal 1:09 into the contest and Howard answered just two minutes later for Gettysburg.
  • After a goal by Grill gave the Bears a 2-1 lead, the Bullets ran off the next three goals with a man-up goal by Fletcher making it a 4-2 lead with five minutes left in the period. Ursinus sliced the lead in half with a tally by Neal.
• Second Quarter
  • Penalties and turnovers plagued the Bullets in the second quarter and Ursinus took advantage with the first three goals of the frame. All three Bear goals were scored in man-up situations, including back-to-back tallies by Grill that put the visitors in front 6-4 with 10:18 left before the break.
  • With 5:37 left in the first half, Cooper slithered behind the defense and snagged a pass from behind the cage from Ward and tossed it in to cut the margin to 6-5.
• Third Quarter
  • Sullivan posted a pair of saves in the early minutes of the second half, but Atillasoy snagged the carom of the second and punched the ball back into the cage for a 7-5 Ursinus lead.
  • Gettysburg picked up the next two scores as Mather dished to Howard for a man-up goal at 8:32. Fletcher saw his shot attempt initially blocked by Porzelt before bouncing off and spinning across the goal line at 6:39.
  • The Bears grabbed the lead before the end of the period when Falco converted another man-up opportunity with less than five minutes left.
• Fourth Quarter
  • Gettysburg looked to seize the momentum with a man-up opportunity to start the final period of regulation. Just before the end of the penalty time, Howard connected with Mather racing to cage to the delight of the home bench.
  • Both teams struggled to find room to shoot over the next nine minutes as the smothering defenses allowed only two shots on goal combined. Sullivan stopped Reinhart at 12:42 and Porzelt halted Mather at 10:24.
  • It would be another five minutes before another shot was in line with the cage and it would come out of the stick of a Gettysburg player. Wykoff drew a double-team coming down the left side and that left Ward wide open in front of the cage for a left-handed shot to give the Bullets a 9-8 lead with 5:21 remaining.
  • Reinhart produced a highlight-reel shot to tie the game with under three minutes to go. Jake Ojert flipped a pass in front to the cutting Reinhart, who promptly went behind his head into the bottom left corner for the equalizer.
  • Despite earning a man-up opportunity in the final two minutes, Gettysburg came up empty on the offensive end as Porzelt made a pair of saves.
• Overtime
  • Gettysburg opened the extra session with the ball following a face-off win by Ulrich. Porzelt came up with the stop on a shot by Wykoff.
  • Ursinus managed four shot attempts, but each was wide of the mark. The Bears turned the ball over with 28 seconds left on a possession clock violation, giving Gettysburg one last opportunity to convert.
  • The Bullets wasted no time with Wykoff racing up the field and dishing to Fletcher along the baseline. The senior made a move to the middle, before spinning back to the cage and parking a lefty shot past Porzelt for the winner.

 
By the Numbers

• Ursinus held the lead in shots (43-17), ground balls (25-17), and face-off wins (11-9). Both teams committed 15 turnovers.
• Gettysburg was playing its first game at home in 413 days. Its last outing on Shirk Field was an 11-5 loss to No. 1 Salisbury on Feb. 22, 2020.
• Saturday's game was a rematch of the 2019 CC Championship. The Bears won the conference title that year with a 10-8 win over the Bullets, which was also Ursinus' first-ever win against Gettysburg.
• Gettysburg and Ursinus tied for the top spot in the CC Preseason Poll. The Bears had the edge in first-place votes 3-2 over the Bullets.
• Fletcher has scored a total of 12 points in four career games against Ursinus.
• Senior defensemen Andrew Horn (Bronxville, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) and PJ Dettor (Annapolis, Md./Severn School) were charged with guarding Atillasoy and Neal, respectively. After scoring a total of 15 points against Washington on Wednesday, the Ursinus scoring duo was held to just five points on Saturday.
• Sullivan has posted 22 saves in his first two collegiate starts. That is the most saves by a Gettysburg first-year goalie to open a career since Tim Brady '18 tallied 23 stops in his first two outings in 2015.

 
Where the Series Stands
Gettysburg ran its record to 21-1 against Ursinus in the all-time series. Six of the last 10 meetings have been decided by two goals or less.  
 
Next Up
Gettysburg returns to action at home against McDaniel College on Saturday, April 24, at 4 p.m. Spectators are not permitted at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium due to health and safety protocols. The game will be streamed live and feature live stats.