Gettysburg, Pa. -   No. 17 Gettysburg College outscored Muhlenberg College 5-0 in the second half of Sunday's men's lacrosse showdown to overcome a three-goal halftime deficit and punch its ticket to the Centennial Conference playoffs with a 5-3 victory in a defensive battle at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
 
Gettysburg (10-6, 5-2 CC), now 9-1 at home this spring, moved into a tie for second place in the Centennial Conference standings with Ursinus College with the win. Muhlenberg (8-5, 4-3 CC), which is receiving votes in the latest USILA Top-20 poll, slipped into a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot with Franklin & Marshall College.
 
Gettysburg, which can clinch the No. 2 seed and home-field advantage for the semifinal round with a win in next Saturday's regular-season finale at Ursinus, will either be the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the postseason tournament.
 
Even with a loss to the Bears, Gettysburg can finish no worse than tied with either or both Muhlenberg and Franklin & Marshall while holding head-to-head tiebreakers over both squads. 
 
Following Sunday's victory, Gettysburg has now posted double-digit wins in six consecutive seasons, excluding the shortened campaigns in 2020 and 2021.
 
The win also marked the fewest goals the Bullets have scored in a win since posting a 5-4 victory at Haverford College on April 15, 2017. 
 
Five different players scored goals for Gettysburg on Sunday as senior Griffin Gallagher (Ardmore, Pa./Shipley School) was the only player for the Bullets to record multiple points by tallying a goal and an assist.
 
Sophomores Quinton Mather (Avon, Conn./Avon Old Farm) and Brady McGovern (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum), junior George Raymond (Darien, Conn./Suffield Academy), and freshman Thomas Ciccarone (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga) also scored for the Bullets.
 
Muhlenberg opened the scoring at the 12:08 mark of the first quarter and added a pair of markers midway through the second stanza to take a 3-0 advantage into halftime.
 
Gettysburg used a three-goal push in the third period to level the game at three-apiece. Mather scored off a feed from senior Tate Kienzle (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) to put the hosts on the board with 11:57 remaining in the third quarter. 
 
Just over a minute later, Gallagher set up McGovern for a goal to pull the Bullets to within one. Gallagher then tied the game up at the 1:12 mark, finding twine after taking a pass from junior Brett Ginac (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia/Trinity Pawling).
 
Raymond gave Gettysburg its first lead of the day just over three minutes into the fourth period with an unassisted tally before Ciccarone netted an insurance goal with 6:09 left on the clock.
 
The Bullets' defense, which held Muhlenberg scoreless in five extra-man opportunities, limited the Mules to just two shots on goal in the fourth quarter. 
 
Senior goalkeeper Scott MacMillan (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) turned aside those attempts to preserve Gettysburg's two-goal advantage late. MacMillan finished the contest with 11 saves to post his 10th win of the season.
 
Junior Zack Puckhaber (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac High School) paced the Bullets with five groundballs and three caused turnovers while Kienzle added three groundballs and two caused turnovers to his third-quarter assist.
 
Junior Michael Zima (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) chipped in with three groundballs and a pair of caused turnovers, junior Declan Harrigan (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck) collected two caused turnovers, and freshman Frank Barbera (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) scooped up a trio of groundballs for the Bullets.
 
Muhlenberg outshot Gettysburg 36-32 for the game, but the Bullets enjoyed a 21-14 advantage in shots on goal.
 
Gettysburg also won the groundball battle, 25-19, and held a 7-4 advantage in face-off wins as junior Jonathan Moshe (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L Vandermeulen) went 7-for-11 at the face-off spot.
 
The Bullets also finished the afternoon plus-six in the turnover department, forcing the Mules into 18 turnovers while giving the ball away 12 times themselves. The hosts went 21-for-24 on clears, while Muhlenberg was successful on 21 of 23 clearing attempts.
 
Gettysburg wraps up the regular season on Saturday at Ursinus. The opening face-off against the Bears, who are also receiving votes in the USILA top-20 poll, is set for 12:00 p.m. in Collegeville.