Men’s Lacrosse Tops Haverford
Junior captain Tommy Heller (Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College Athletics)
By Matt Hutcheon, Staff Writer
The Gettysburg College men’s lacrosse team continued its strong season with an 11-5 win at home over Haverford College.
The Bullets faced off against Haverford just two games after Coach Hank Janczyk reached his milestone 400th win with the program. Janczyk has been with the Bullets for 31 years and has a record of 400-116 with the program.
The Black Squirrels had little interest in the Gettysburg coach’s accolades on Saturday and jumped out to an early 3-1 lead after the first quarter of the game. The first goal was scored with just over 11 minutes left in the first period, as Haverford senior midfielder Patrick Girard put the Black Squirrels on the board with an unassisted goal.
Haverford first-year defenseman Ben Frost scored the second goal of the game just two minutes after that initial strike by his teammate Girard, as he netted another goal to extend the Black Squirrels lead to 2-0.
The Bullets bounced back with a goal by sophomore attackman Brian Kolen with less than two minutes left in the first period, but Girard netted another goal with 22 seconds left in the period for the Black Squirrels to maintain their two goal lead.
The Bullets were able to overcome this deficit in the second period. Thanks to two goals a piece from junior midfielders Andrew Garstka and Jack Harvey, the Bullets were able to pull ahead to a one-goal lead going into the third period.
Haverford scored one goal in the period, as junior attackman Stephen DeLeo was able to get past the Bullets’ senior goalie Tim Brady.
The third period was far more defensive than the first two. There were only two goals scored, as both sides traded off on scores in the period. The Bullets scored with just under 15 minutes left in the period, as Harvey netted his third goal. This goal was answered around the two-minute mark by Haverford first-year midfielder Brian Geffroy.
The Bullets held a slim 6-5 lead in the game headed into the fourth quarter. However, a flurry of three goals within the first seven minutes put the Bullets up three with thirteen minutes left in the game.
Senior midfielder Geoff Fulgione started the onslaught and scored his first goal of the contest within the first ten seconds of the fourth quarter. Then at the thirteen-minute mark, Harvey added another goal, which sophomore midfielder Eric Carr quickly matched by scoring a goal of his own seconds after Harvey’s effort.
The Bullets added two more goals later in the game. The first came from sophomore midfielder Michael McCormick just before the midpoint of the half, and the second came from first-year attackman Jack Fletcher with less than four minutes left in the game.
Senior captain and goalie Tim Brady posted a shutout in the final period. He also had an impressive 11 saves on 16 shots in the contest.
After the 11-5 victory, two Bullets were honored with Centennial Conference Player of the Week awards. McCormick won Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Dickinson College later in the week, when he scored two goals that helped the Bullets overcome an eight-goal deficit and win the game 12-11.
Fugione was awarded Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his game against Haverford, during which he won 14 of 18 face-offs and collected seven ground balls.
At the start of the season, senior captain Cullen Minion said, “Last year was heartbreaking, but we are really coming for revenge this year.” Needless to say, the Gettysburg College men’s lacrosse team has a fire driving them this season.
The reason that Minion and other members of the team want revenge so badly is because of last year’s gut-wrenching overtime loss to Franklin & Marshall College in the Centennial Conference Championship. Franklin & Marshall scored in the final 10 seconds of overtime, crushing the Bullets’ hopes of making a run in the NCAA Division III National Championship.
However, that loss at the end of last season has motivated the Bullets to a 13-1 record and a third-ranking spot in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division III top-20 poll.
The Bullets next game will be against McDaniel College on Wednesday April 25. This is the Bullets last home game of the season and second to last game overall.
