THE FACTS
No. 8 Gettysburg (6-1, 1-0 CC) 14, No. 17 Ursinus (5-3, 0-1 CC) 10
What: Centennial Conference (CC) men's lacrosse game
When: Saturday, March 25
Where: Gettysburg, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
Ursinus struck first, getting up 2-0 on Gettysburg before the Bullets scored six straight to lead by four going into the second quarter. Even with some back and forth scoring, the Bears would not get closer than three the rest of the way.
THE LEADERS
•
Aidan Wykoff (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield-Ludlowe) led the Bullets' offense with three goals and three ground balls.
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Kyle Howard (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery) added one goal and four assists, as well as a one ground ball.
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Jonathan Moshe (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandermeulen) was dominant on the faceoff X, winning 15 of 26.
•
Kieran Ward (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) scored two goals, picked up three ground balls, and caused one turnover.
FOR THE FOES
• Jonathan Singer made 19 saves in goal for the Bears.
• Tyler Falco and Tyler Neal each had three goals and one assist.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Ursinus came out hot, with Dominic Nottoli winning the first faceoff and going straight to cage for the Bears' first goal of the game in the first seven seconds of play. Nottoli won the next faceoff as well, and Erik Ojert scored the Ursinus' second goal of the game only 40 seconds later. Gettysburg got on the board two minutes later, as
Kyle Howard put up an unassisted tally. An Ursinus penalty gave Gettysburg a man-up opportunity, and Howard got the ball to
Quinton Mather (Avon, Conn./Avon Old Farms) to tie the game, 2-all, only five minutes into the first period. Johnathan Moshe won the next faceoff, and another man-up opportunity gave
Jack Dunleavy (New Providence, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) his first goal of the game and Gettysburg's first lead of the game. Another faceoff win by Moshe gave Gettysburg another offensive possession, and
George Raymond (Darien, Conn./Suffield Academy) dished his first assist to
Aidan Wykoff, who netted Gettysburg's fourth goal of the game. Nottoli won the next faceoff, but a turnover led to a goal by
McCain Wnek (Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover), assisted by Howard, to make what was a 2-2 game a 5-2 Bullets advantage. Ursinus took a timeout, and both teams incurred penalties over the next two minutes but neither team could find the cage as the penalties ran out. With 2:42 left in the first, Howard got the ball to
Kieran Ward for a 6-2 Bullets lead. After winning the next faceoff on violation, Gettysburg would try six more shots but couldn't find cage on any of them, ending the period with a four-goal lead.
• Just like in the first quarter, Ursinus scored within the first minute of the second quarter as the Bears won the faceoff and got the ball into the stick of Tyler Falco to cut the deficit to three. Out of the faceoff, a Bullets shot went wide and both
Andy Marquet (Berwyn, Pa/Conestoga) and Ward caused turnovers to give the Bullets six shot attempts, but none made it in the net. With 09:08 to play in the half, the Bears turned the ball over again and
Zack Puckhaber (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) was there to scoop it up, getting the ball to
Stokes Myers (Nashville, Tenn./Montgomery Bell Academy), who dished to Wnek to make it a 7-3 game. In the next six minutes, both goalies made several saves and each team turned the ball over, but it was Ursinus that finally found the net at the 2:51 mark, as Neal made a second-chance shot to cut the deficit back down to three. However, just as they had done before, Gettysburg responded almost immediately, as Moshe won the next faceoff and
Ethan Kessler (Ridgefield, Conn./Millbrook School) got it over to Wykoff to bring the lead back to four. Gettysburg tried three more shots on the period, but two went wide and one went to the stick of goalie Singer to make it an 8-4 game going into half.
• Ursinus once again netted the first goal of the third period, as Christopher Pucciarelli netted a goal in the first two minutes of the second half. A goal by Myers got the lead back out to four for the Bullets and began a back-and-forth run by the teams. After several shots by each, Ursinus brought the deficit back down to three with another goal by Pucciarelli. Saves by both goalies prevented any more tallies for the next five minutes, before Ward netted another Bullets goal with 1:33 left in the period. Gettysburg won the next faceoff, and
Frank Barbera (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) picked up the ground ball and drove straight to cage to notch an 11-6 Gettysburg lead. Ursinus won the final faceoff of the period, and after three shots were unsuccessful, Neal got the ball in the cage with one second left on the clock to make it 11-7 heading into the final quarter.
• An Ursinus shot was saved to begin the third period, and Gettysburg took two that went wide before running out the shot clock. A penalty on Gettysburg allowed Neal to dish to Falco for an Ursinus man-up goal that, once again, brought them back within three goals. After two more Ursinus shots went wide, Puckhaber picked up another ground ball to give the Bullets possession. Howard went to pass and found Wykoff sitting right at the corner of the cage, who immediately fired the ball in for the Bullets' 12th goal of the day. Another Gettysburg penalty allowed Ursinus to score on another man-up opportunity for a 12-9 score, but Gettysburg responded quickly as
Ethan Kessler made a second-chance shot with 6:07 left to play. Ursinus looked to go on the offensive, but a caused turnover and ground ball pickup by
Ryan Cernuto (Martinsville, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) got the ball to
Michael Zima (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge), who dished to Raymond for the Bullets' final goal of the game. Ursinus called a timeout to organize their offense, and Neal scored the Bears' last goal of the day, but couldn't tack on any more as the clock ran out and the Bullets took the 14-10 conference opener win.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg outshot Ursinus 52-39. 33 of Gettysburg's shots were on goal, while 17 of Ursinus' were.
• In the goal for the Bullets,
Colin LaForty (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) picked up his third win of the season, making seven saves.
• Gettysburg converted on both of their extra-man opportunities, and held Ursinus to only two of five.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action against McDaniel on Wednesday. Game time is 7 p.m.
