GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg outscored No. 15 Washington (Md.) College 5-0 in the first quarter and led 10-1 early in the second half as the ninth-ranked Bullets rolled to an 11-4 Centennial Conference victory Saturday afternoon at a sunny, extremely windy Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.

The win was the fifth in a row for Gettysburg (7-3, 3-1 CC), which outshot the Shoremen 40-19 in a rematch of last year's Centennial Conference championship game and NCAA Division III quarterfinals. The Bullets blanked Washington over the game's opening 23:28.

At halftime of the game, approximately 60 men's lacrosse alumni were honored as part of a day-long celebration of the program's 50th anniversary.

The Bullets received a balanced offensive attack, with goals coming from seven different players. Seniors Zach Pucci (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) and Rob Triplett (McLean, Va./McLean) led the way with two goals and one assist each while juniors Kyle McGrath (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) and Patrick Koehl (Shamong, N.J./St. Joseph's Prep) scored two goals apiece. Sophomore Chris Cahill (Nashville, Tenn./Montgomery Bell Academy) contributed a goal and two assists.

Gettysburg forced the Shoremen into 23 turnovers, and senior Tommy Kehoe (Coraopolis, Pa./Sewickley Academy) caused three of them.

Washington (8-3, 3-2 CC) was paced by senior Casey O'Connor, who scored two goals.

Gettysburg needed less than a minute to get on the scoreboard, as senior Tom O'Donnell (Montgomeryville, Pa./La Salle College) struck just 45 seconds in. McGrath scored just over four minutes later before Triplett and Pucci added man-up goals 1:17 apart as the Bullets lead grew to 4-0 with 5:58 left in the opening period.

McGrath capped the scoring when he found the back of the net with 1:34 left in the quarter, making it 5-0 after 15 minutes of play.

Koehl continued Gettysburg's opening run, scoring 1:43 into the second quarter as the Bullets surplus swelled to 6-0. Washington got on the board with 6:32 to go when Matt Moreton scored to make it a 6-1 game at the half.

Just as it did in the first half, Gettysburg came out clicking on all cylinders to open the second period. Sophomore Matt Griffo (Babylon, N.J./Babylon), Cahill, Pucci, and Koehl all scored over the first 4:55 of the stanza, giving the Bullets their nine-goal advantage.

Washington cut it to six with 13:32 left in the game after scoring three straight goals, but the Bullets shut out the Shoremen the rest of the way. Triplett set the final score with 11:53 remaining.

Senior Zach Furshman (Miami, Fla./Kent School [Conn.]) made four saves to earn the win in goal for the Bullets. Senior Gordon Cohen yielded all but two of Gettysburg's goals and recorded three saves in 28:57 of action while freshman Peter Stewart stopped eight shots and allowed two goals in 31:03.

Gettysburg returns to Centennial Conference action on Wednesday, when it hosts McDaniel College at 4:00 p.m.

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GETTYSBURG, PA -- Ninth-ranked host Gettysburg College jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back en route to an 11-4 Centennial Conference men's lacrosse victory over 15th-ranked Washington College this afternoon in Gettysburg, PA. The Bullets improved to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play with the win, while the Shoremen fell to 8-3 and 3-2 with the loss.

The Bullets held a 6-1 lead at halftime and led by as many as nine goals during the second half. Zach Pucci and Rob Triplett each had two goals and one assist for the Bullets in the game, while Kyle McGrath and Patrick Koehl also scored two goals each. Chris Cahill scored one goal and assisted on two others, while Matt Griffo and Tom O'Donnell each scored one goal.

Senior midfielder Casey O'Connor (Crownsville, MD/Archbishop Spalding) scored two goals for the Shoremen, while senior midfielder Matt Moreton (Darnestown, MD/Northwest) and sophomore attackman Josh Perlow (Owings Mills, MD/Boys Latin) each scored one.

The Bullets outshot the Shoremen, 40-19, in the game.

The Shoremen return to action Wednesday with a 7:00 p.m. Centennial Conference home game against Swarthmore.

2009-04-04