GETTYSBURG, Pa. – No. 2 Gettysburg College (6-3, 1-0 CC) locked the gate on Haverford College (4-4, 0-1 CC) in the Centennial Conference opener, holding the Fords scoreless for 44 minutes on the way to a 12-2 victory at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium on Saturday.
 
Gettysburg wreaked havoc on Haverford's ball movement and forced the first of 10 failed clears less than two minutes into the game. After being denied on an initial shot attempt by Ford goalie Jacob Abraham, senior Griffin Gallagher (Ardmore, Pa./Shipley School) connected on his second try for the game's first goal at 11:33.
 
Senior Spencer Knife (Venice, Calif./Winston Churchill) scored on an assist by junior Kyle Howard (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery) during a man-up situation to make it a 2-0 lead. Senior Scott MacMillan (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) posted three saves in the opening period and intercepted a pass by Will Graves at 4:41. Howard accounted for Gettysburg's final tally of the first quarter, scooping up the rebound and firing the ball into the cage with 24 seconds left.
 
The Bullets upped the lead to 5-0 early in the second quarter as Howard found senior Kieran Ward (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) before Ward dished out his own assist to Knife. That would be the end of the offense as both defenses locked down over the final 10 minutes of the period. MacMillan posted a pair of saves, while Abraham kept Haverford's hopes alive with five saves.
 
Both teams failed to find the back of the net again until junior Connor Koch (Glenview, Ill./Loyola Academy) blasted a shot into the cage at 4:38 in the third quarter. Action heated up with the teams combining for four goals in the final 1:54. Jonathan Moon scored Haverford's first goal with exactly one minute left in the period. Following a tally by senior Tate Kienzle (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) with 33 seconds left, defenseman Devin Lefkowitz turned in the Fords' final goal 11 seconds later to cut the margin to 8-2.
 
The Bullets dominated the final period as Haverford totaled more turnovers (7) than shots (5). Knife opened the final frame with what might be the goal of the season so far, catching a pass from junior George Raymond (Darien, Conn./Suffield Academy) in front of the cage and flipping it behind his head for the goal at 13:58. Freshman defenseman Thomas Ciccarone (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga) scored on a pass from Kienzle a few minutes later to make it 10-2.
 
Leading 11-2, Gettysburg produced its final goal following another failed clear by the visitors with junior Aidan Wykoff (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) breaking up the attempt to move the ball up the field and then scoring on a pass from Raymond with 1:52 left.
 
Gettysburg dominated the stats with a 57-23 lead in shots and a 40-25 advantage in ground balls. Haverford did win the face-off battle 10-7, but the Fords only went 15-of-25 on clears and committed 27 turnovers.
 
Knife finished with three goals and two ground balls, while Wykoff tallied a pair of goals. Howard picked up a goal and two assists and Raymond dished out three assists to go with a team-high six ground balls. Junior Zack Puckhaber (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) caused three turnovers and picked up two ground balls, while fellow defenseman Andy Marquet (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) tracked down five ground balls. MacMillan finished with eight saves.
 
Abraham totaled 16 saves for Haverford. Teddy Carlin finished 9-of-15 on face-offs and grabbed four ground balls and Gray Pollock totaled three caused turnovers for the Fords.
 
Gettysburg hosts No. 9 Franklin & Marshall College on Wednesday, March 30, at 3:30 p.m.