Box Score THE FACTS
No. 4 Christopher Newport (18-2) 17, No. 7 Gettysburg (13-5) 12
What: NCAA men's lacrosse tournament third round game
When: Saturday, May 13
Where: Newport News, Va.
THE SKINNY STORY
In only the second ever meeting between No. 4 ranked Christopher Newport and No. 7 ranked Gettysburg, the Captains' offense powered past the Bullets to win the NCAA tournament third round game, 12-7, ending Gettysburg's tournament run.
THE LEADERS
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Kieran Ward (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) tallied a hat trick to go with one assist and one ground ball.
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Kyle Howard (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery) also scored three goals and dished one assist, along with picking up one ground ball.
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Jack Dunleavy (New Providence, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) had two goals and one assist on the day.
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Michael Zima (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) picked up three ground balls and caused two turnovers to go with one goal.
FOR THE FOES
• Alex Brendes led the Captains' offense with five goals and three assists.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Christopher Newport found the back of the net first, after Andrew Cook got a pass after a Gettysburg turnover and converted for a goal just under three minutes into the game. After several Gettysburg shots that couldn't find the cage, a turnover by CNU led to a
George Raymond (Darien, Conn./Suffield Academy) shot that dinged off the post, but
Michael Zima was there for the putback to make it an even game. Just 25 seconds later, Raymond found
McCain Wnek (Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover) to give Gettysburg their first lead of the game. Back-to-back Captains tallies gave them the 3-2 lead again, and
Kieran Ward and Alex Brendes traded goals before Brendes scored another in the final seven seconds of the first period to etch a 5-3 CNU lead.
• An unassisted Brendes tally just 90 seconds into the second quarter started a three-goal spurt over the next minute and a half to give CNU a five-goal lead. Gettysburg broke up the momentum with 8:11 showing as Raymond finished a feed to
Kyle Howard, but the Captains responded just 12 seconds later with a man-down goal. Ward fed a pass to
Jack Dunleavy to cut the deficit to 9-5 with 5:49 left in the half, however a goal by Brett Jackson with just over three minutes left in the half gave CNU a 10-5 lead going into halftime.
• A weather delay pushed the start of the second half back considerably, and once play resumed, it took CNU just under five minutes to put another tally on the board, kicking off another three-goal run to give the Captains an eight-goal lead. An unassisted goal by
Will Hedley (Charlotte, N.C./The Hotchkiss School) broke the Christopher Newport momentum momentarily, but Andrew Cook responded just three minutes later with a second-chance goal to bring CNU's lead back to eight. Robby Adams scored the final goal of the third period in the last 12 seconds to give Christopher Newport a 15-6 advantage going into the final quarter of play.
• A third-period CNU penalty extended into the fourth, giving Gettysburg a man-up chance. Dunleavy finished a pass from Raymond to convert the opportunity. Adams and Howard then traded goals over the next minute to maintain CNU's eight-goal lead with 11:57 left to play, and several turnovers by each team stopped either from finding the net until just 4:29 remained in the game, as Brendes scored yet again to give CNU a nine-goal lead, 17-8. Gettysburg went off on a four-goal run to close out the fourth period, with two goals each by Ward and Howard, but didn't have enough time to complete a comeback, falling to Christopher Newport 17-12.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg improved by one goal from their last matchup against Christopher Newport, on March 18, 2022. In that game, the Bullets fell to CNU 17-11.
• Christopher Newport outshot Gettysburg by a narrow 38-37 margin. 21 of Gettysburg's 37 were on goal, while 20 of CNU's 38 hit the mark.
• The Captains held a 37-29 advantage in ground balls.
