CARLISLE, Pa. – The 17th-ranked Gettysburg Men's Lacrosse team (9-6, 4-2) was unable to overcome a slow first half as they dropped their battle of nationally ranked teams 15-9 to No. 9 Dickinson (14-0, 7-0) on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Red Devils opened the scoring just 14 seconds into the contest to take the early 1-0 lead after winning the opening faceoff. Senior Griffin Gallagher (Ardmore, Pa./Shipley School) got the Bullets on the board at the 12:32-mark of the first half after Spencer Knife (Venice, Calif./Winston Churchill) dished it to him wide open on the left side of the crease. Dickinson recorded back-to-back goals to take a 3-1 advantage at the 8:21-mark as they cashed in from Bullet turnovers on both possessions. Freshman Jack Dunleavy (New Providence, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) created space from his defender at the 4:24-mark of the first quarter and cut the deficit to 3-2 with his first goal of the game, but Dickinson once again had an answer just over a minute later to take a 4-2 lead into the second quarter.
 
The Red Devils continued their momentum by winning the opening faceoff of the second quarter and increased their lead to 5-2 with a goal just 30 seconds later. Gallagher netted his second for the Bullets at the 11:07-mark after breaking past his defender on the right side to make it a 5-3 game. Unfortunately for Gettysburg, the Red Devils rattled off four unanswered goals to take a 9-3 advantage at the 3:18-mark of the second quarter. Two of the goals for Dickinson came off man-up opportunities and they held the Bullets to just two shots during that stretch. However, Gallagher gave the Bullets a boost just before the half with his third goal of the game at the 19-second mark.
 
Gettysburg kept the momentum from the late first half Gallagher goal as they scored the first two of the third quarter to cut the Red Devil lead down to 9-6. Gallagher ripped one past the Dickinson keeper off a feed from junior George Raymond (Darien, Conn./Suffield Academy) for his fourth goal of the game before Dunleavy cleaned up a loose rebound following a saved shot from Knife. Dickinson ended the run with a goal at the 6:51-mark, but Knife countered just under a minute later to bring the deficit down to three goals once more. However, a Bullets turnover following a faceoff win led to a Dickinson goal at the 4:21-mark increase the Red Devils lead to 11-7.
 
Dickinson added another at the 2:50-mark to make it a 12-7 contest before the Bullets made another charge at the lead by tallying back-to-back goals in the final minute. Dunleavy cashed in on a man-up opportunity with 34 seconds left in the quarter and sophomore Brady McGovern (Wilmington, Del./Salsianum School) recorded his first goal of the game just 24 seconds later after receiving a pass from Knife at X. That would be the final goal of the contest for the Bullets as the Red Devils outscored them 3-0 in the fourth to lock up the win and maintain their unbeaten season. Despite not scoring a goal in the fourth, Gettysburg outshot the Red Devils 12-4.
 
Dickinson held a slight 37-36 edge in total shots and a 22-19 advantage in shots on goal. The Bullets held a 32-31 edge in ground balls, but lost the faceoff battle 19-9 to the Red Devils. Senior goalkeeper Scott MacMillan (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) suffered the loss after making seven saves in the full 60 minutes, while Dickinson goalkeeper Chris Brandau earned the win with 10 saves during the full time.
 
Gallagher paced the Bullets with a team-high four goals while Dunleavy added a trio. Raymond dished out three assists and Knife recorded three points on two assists and one goal. Matt Thurston led the Red Devils with four points while adding an assist and Skyler Schluter registered seven points on three goals and for assists.
 
Gettysburg returns to action on Sunday, April 24th as they will host Muhlenberg at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.