THE FACTS
No. 5 Gettysburg (2-1) 14, No. 19 Denison (0-2) 1
What: Non-conference women's lacrosse game
When: Saturday, February 25
Where: Gettysburg, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
Strong scoring efforts got the Bullets out to a 5-0 lead after the first, and the offense continued to pour it on as the defense showed their power, keeping Denison scoreless for almost the entire game.
THE LEADERS
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Jordan Basso (Rye, N.Y./Rye) led the Bullets with five goals and three assists.
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Caroline Sullivan (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) added two goals and three assists.
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Essie Pasternak (Short Hills, N.J./Blair Academy) paced the defense with four caused turnovers and three ground balls.
FOR THE FOES
• Carly LaPierre scored the lone goal for the Big Red off a free-position attempt.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Gettysburg came out hot, as
Regan Rightmire (Dowingtown, Pa./Downingtown STEM Academy) won the first draw of the game to give possession to the Bullets, and
Jordan Basso dished to
Gabi Connor (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) for a goal within the first 15 seconds of the game. Denison won the next draw, but
Essie Pasternak got the turnover, allowing Gettysburg to get the ball into the stick of
Caroline Sullivan. Sullivan spun around her defenders for the Bullets' second goal of the game, with only two minutes elapsed. Gettysburg won the next two draws to enable two more goals by Basso, the second being assisted by Sullivan, to notch a 4-0 lead with less than three minutes off the game clock in the first period. With 12:17 left in the first, Denison looked to notch their first of the game, but could only come up with one successful clear as the Gettysburg defense pressed the Big Red all the way down the field. With 2:36 remaining in the first,
Caroline Sullivan drove in front of the net for her second goal of the game. Denison's final attempts of the quarter were all stopped by Gettysburg, as they turned the ball over twice more to finish the first period.
• Denison's Bridget Sheehy got the first shot of the second period, but Gettysburg goalie
Gillian Cortese (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) was there to make the stop. Before the first five minutes were up, Basso scored again to give the Bullets a 6-0 lead. Denison worked to contain the Bullets, and both teams missed shots over the next four minutes. Two Denison shots were saved by Cortese, and neither team could find the back of the net as the clock ticked down, yielding a 6-0 Gettysburg advantage heading into the break.
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Katie Fullowan (Lebanon, N.J./North Hunterdon) won the draw at the beginning of the third, allowing Basso to throw a pass to
Julia Daly (McLean, Va./Langley), who netted it to bring the Bullets' lead up to seven. Denison's next three attempts were all snatched away by the Gettysburg defense, as they caused turnovers on each of Denison's clear attempts.
Gabi Connor caused a turnover for Denison, and then dished it to Daly for Daly's second of the game, forcing a Denison timeout. Out of the timeout, Connor scored a goal off a pass from Sullivan to give the Bullets the 9-0 edge. Less than 45 seconds later, Rightmire caused a turnover and
Jordan Basso fired one in. The Gettysburg defense allowed Denison no more shots in the period, and
Sophie Smith (Great Falls, Va./Langley) and
Julie Breedveld (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) each netted a goal to make it a 12-0 Bullets lead going into the final quarter.
• Denison won the first two draws of the final quarter, but lost both possessions. A free position attempt yielded Breedveld's second goal of the game with 11:15 left to play, and Cortese stopped a shot form Merrill Rollhaus of Denison. Two more caused turnovers for Gettysburg gave way to
Jordan Basso's final goal of the game, with Sullivan tallying the assist. A Denison free position attempt allowed them to finally break up the shutout, as Carly LaPierre found the back of the net. LaPierre's goal would be the last of the game, however, as Gettysburg ran away with the 14-1 home opener win.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg finished with a 37-9 advantage in shots and a 19-10 advantage in ground balls.
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Gillian Cortese made four saves in goal.
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Sophie Smith and
Julie Breedveld scored their first goals of the season, with Breedveld's two goals also being the first of her career.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action against Washington and Lee on Saturday. Game time is 12 p.m.
