THE FACTS
No. 10 Gettysburg (6-3) 17, No. 3 The College of New Jersey (7-2) 9
What: Non-conference women's lacrosse game
When: Wednesday, March 29
Where: Gettysburg, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
The Gettysburg offense and defense worked in sync and showed why the 10th-ranked Bullets are one of the best teams in the country, holding off No. 3 TCNJ with high-powered shooting and aggressive defense, recording a 17-9 victory.
THE LEADERS
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Essie Pasternak (Short Hills, N.J./Blair Academy) dominated on defense, picking up a game and career-high five ground balls, and causing three turnovers.
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Jordan Basso (Rye, N.Y./Rye) tallied five goals and three assists. She also picked up two ground balls and caused one turnover.
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Katie Fullowan (Lebanon, N.J./North Hunterdon) and
Julia Daly (McLean, Va./Langley) both had a hat trick and an assist for four points.
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Emily Crane (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair) was the final Bullet with three goals on the day.
FOR THE FOES
• Wayden Ay led TCNJ's offense with three goals.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Gettysburg got off to a hot start, scoring the first five goals of the game and fighting on defense to keep the Lions scoreless for the first 10 minutes of the game.
Katie Fullowan scored the Bullets' first goal of the game in the first minute of play, on a free position attempt. Less than 15 seconds later,
Jordan Basso got the ball to
Julia Daly for a 2-0 lead. A caused turnover by
Lily Macatee (Street, Md./North Harford) led to a
Julie Breedveld (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) goal, assisted by
Caroline Sullivan, for the Bullets third of the game to force TCNJ's first timeout. Out of the timeout, both teams had a free position attempt but the goalies for each team got the save. With 7:24 showing, Sullivan assisted Basso for her first of the game to give the Bullets a 4-0 lead, and less than a minute later
Emily Crane added an unassisted tally to make it 5-0. TCNJ then broke up the shutout on a second-chance shot by Morgan Vaccaro to put them on the board with 04:09 left in the first period. Gettysburg responded almost immediately, however, as Fullowan scored her second goal of the game to give the Bullets a five-goal lead again. TCNJ finished the period with a goal on a free position attempt to send the teams into the second, with Gettysburg leading 6-2.
• Gettysburg had the first few good looks at cage, but Lions goalie Julia Charest was there to make the stops. A Bullets turnover and foul led to Wayden Ay's first goal of the game, and TCNJ's third, to bring them within three goals. The teams traded shots back and forth for the next few minutes, before a ground ball pickup by
Essie Pasternak gave the Bullets possession, and Sullivan dished to Daly for the Bullets' seventh goal of the game with 4:58 left in the second half. TCNJ took several shots in the next few minutes, but Bullets goalie
Gillian Cortese (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) put a stop to their attempts. With under two minutes remaining in the half, Basso lit up the cage for Gettysburg's eighth goal, stretching their lead back to five. TCNJ had the final word in the half, however, scoring on another free position attempt to bring the score to 8-4 going into halftime.
• In the third period, Gettysburg continued to play aggressive defense, with
Nora Belodeau (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) causing a turnover on the Lions' first possession of the half, and Pasternak scooping the ball up. The Bullets were awarded two free position attempts, but couldn't find the net on either, and a yellow card gave TCNJ the man-up advantage. Ally Tobler scored for the Lions on the opportunity, bringing the score within three once again. Several turnovers for both teams and Gettysburg fouls led to another TCNJ free position, and Wayden Ay found the net to make it a two-goal game. The Bullets didn't waver, maintaining their pressure as Cortese saved yet another TCNJ free position shot, and Pasternak caused a turnover to give the Bullets possession. Two Bullets shots missed the mark, and a shot by TCNJ was blocked before Pasternak caused another turnover and picked up the loose ball to allow Fullowan to find the cage with only 23 seconds left in the third period. With less than 20 seconds left, TCNJ turned the ball over and Belodeau was there to pick it up, allowing Basso to get it to Daly for a goal with less than a second left on the clock. With the under-the-wire play, the teams went into the final period with Gettysburg leading, 10-6.
• Each team took a shot in the opening three minutes of play, before Daly picked up a ground ball off a wide shot to get the ball to Crane, bringing the Bullets' lead back to five. Less than a minute later, Fullowan won a draw control and Basso scored Gettysburg's 12th goal, notching the team's largest lead of the game so far, 12-6. TCNJ took a timeout, but it couldn't stop the Bullets as Macatee won a draw control and Breedveld found Basso for a 13-6 lead. TCNJ countered with a goal at 9:42 showing, their first since the middle of the third quarter. Once again, the Bullets responded quickly, with Macatee causing a turnover and Fullowan dishing to Crane for her third goal of the day, and Gettysburg's 14th. In the next few minutes, each team took several shots, but couldn't make the play, before a failed clear by TCNJ gave Gettysburg an opportunity. Belodeau picked up another ground ball and Gettysburg cleared it for Basso to dish to
Kelly O'Connor (Livingston, N.J./Livingston), scoring another goal and forcing a TCNJ timeout. Out of the timeout,
Regan Rightmire (Downington, Pa./Downingtown STEM Academy) won the draw control, and O'Connor handed it off to Breedveld to increase the Gettysburg lead to eight. A Gettysburg foul gave TCNJ their second goal of the quarter on a free position attempt, with 2:14 left to play. Less than a minute later, the Lions were awarded another free position shot, and while they couldn't convert initially, Tobler picked up the ground ball and put the ball back for TCNJ's final goal of the game. With less than a minute to play, it looked like Gettysburg would simply hold the ball and run the clock out, but Basso pulled a fast one, driving to cage for her fifth goal of the day, and Gettysburg's final goal. The clock ran down, and Gettysburg rushed the field as they celebrated the hard-fought 17-9 win.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg outshot TCNJ 38-25, and also had a 16-13 advantage in draw controls, and 18-12 in ground balls.
• Four of TCNJ's nine goals were free position goals.
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Gillian Cortese made eight saves in goal for the Bullets and Lions goalie Julia Charest made 14.
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Julie Breedveld finished with two goals and one assist.
• The matchup was the fourth top-10 matchup for Gettysburg, which improved to 2-2 in such games. TCNJ dropped to 0-2 against top-10 teams this season.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action at home against Washington (Md.) on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.
