By Zion Williams, Staff Writer
Gettysburg Men’s Soccer came back from a 1-0 deficit to tie Haverford 1-1 in their second Centennial Conference regular season matchup on Saturday. Fans tentatively walked into Clark Field just before kickoff while bundled in rain gear and armed with umbrellas for Bullets pride night. Wind blew and rain poured down during the brisk 7 p.m. matchup between the Fords and the Bullets.
Gabe Knopf ’26 of the Fords started the game, as he kicked it off to his teammate, who launched the ball downfield into Bullets territory. Fritz Reiter ’24 of the Bullets cleared it back down the field to go out of bounds for a Fords throw-in. It was Knopf who registered the first scoring opportunity of the game when he shot just wide of the target after a cross into the Bullets’ 18-yard box.
In the third minute of the game, the Fords drove into Bullets territory again. Haverford forward Andrew Fritz ’26 shot towards the top right of the goal, which forced a great save from Gettysburg goalkeeper and captain Kevin Muhic ’24, who tipped it over the crossbar.
The Bullets almost managed to strike first in the twelfth minute after Noah Holgado ’26 served a ball into the box, which missed the head of Chase Sempervive ’24 by inches and hit the shoulder of a Fords defender to go over the goal.
Haverford was the first to find a breakthrough in the twenty-first minute when the ball fell in the perfect position for the Fords to net one it into the bottom corner and take a 1-0 lead.
Gettysburg responded just before halftime in the 44th minute. Max Sams ’27 placed a beautiful curling ball towards the back post of the Fords goal, which James Blake ’27 finished into the bottom right corner of the net to tie the game 1-1 and finish off the half. Sams and Blake both registered their first collegiate points on the play.
The Bullets started the second half with renewed energy, as they put pressure on the Fords’ back line early on. In the forty-ninth minute, Blake drove into Fords territory and played a searching ball out wide to find Josue De Leon Sabala ’27, who beat his defender and crossed the ball into the box. Sempervive found the crossed ball and ripped a shot that was blocked by Haverford. The ball then fell back to the feet of Blake, but he placed his kick right into the hands of Fords goalkeeper Dylan Ioffreda ’24.
In the fifty-first minute, Gettysburg midfielder Gaoussou Coulibaly ’24 sent a ball into the box that connected with the head of Sempervive and was almost bobbled into the net by Ioffreda. The Bullets outshot the Fords 10-1 in the second half and had an 8-2 advantage with corner kicks throughout the game. Gettysburg dominated play in the second half but was unable to get the go-ahead goal.
The tie brought the Bullets’ overall season record to 2-2-2 and their conference record to 0-0-2. Gettysburg returns to play on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at home against Dickinson to try and earn their first conference win.
