CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The third-ranked Gettysburg College men's lacrosse team will head into the postseason with a head of steam following a 15-13 Centennial Conference (CC) victory at Washington College on Saturday at Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium in its regular-season finale.
 
With the win, the Bullets (15-1, 8-0 CC) put the finishing touches on their third undefeated Centennial Conference regular season in the last four years. Gettysburg has earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming CC tournament and will host a conference semifinal versus either Haverford or Swarthmore on Wednesday at a time to be announced.
 
Junior Andrew Garstka (Springfield, Va./Paul VI Catholic) poured in a career-high four goals and dished out two assists while sophomore Brian Kolen (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) notched three goals and two helpers for Gettysburg, which took the lead for good with a 3-0 run midway through the second quarter. The Shoremen (8-7, 3-5 CC) closed to within a goal on four occasions before the Bullets opened up some breathing room in the second half with another 3-0 spurt, making it a 14-10 game.
 
The offensively-charged contest featured a combined 83 shots, with Gettysburg holding a 42-41 edge. Bullet senior Tim Brady (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) tied a season-high with 13 saves, including a pair of late stops on shots that could have potentially cut the deficit to one.
 
Freshman Jack Fletcher (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day School) added one goal and three assists for Gettysburg while sophomore Connor Hunt (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) had a big day on face-offs, finishing 15-for-21. Sophomore long-stick midfielder Christian Atalese (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) added a career-high six ground balls while junior defensive midfielder Ryan Kelly (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) (four ground balls, two caused turnovers) and senior defenseman Nick Hill (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) (three caused turnovers) also aided the defense.
 
Casey Grieve and Tyler Powers scored three goals apiece for Washington while Ben Flood also made 13 saves.
 
The Shoremen led three times over the opening 7:17, but the Bullets scored twice late in the opening quarter to assume a 4-3 lead heading into the second period.
 
Washington tied the game twice early in the second quarter before Gettysburg's first 3-0 surge. Sophomore defenseman Mitch Wykoff (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) kicked it off with his second goal of the season, and 14 seconds later Kolen struck with his second goal of the game. Fletcher capped the run with 9:32 left in the half, making it 8-5. The Shoremen outscored the Bullets 3-1 over the remainder of the stanza, however, and trailed just 9-8 at the half.
 
The two sides traded goals twice to open the third quarter, and the Bullets held just an 11-10 advantage with 6:02 showing. But that's when Gettysburg posted its second 3-0 outburst, starting with junior Jack Harvey's (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) second goal of the game with 45 seconds left in the period. Garstka then went back-to-back, striking with seven ticks showing in the third quarter, then again with 9:34 left in the game, making it 14-10.
 
The Shoremen climbed back into it, however, posting consecutive tallies to draw to within two with 6:29 remaining. Washington had a pair of opportunities to pull within a goal, but Brady's stops at the 4:34 and 2:33 marks kept the hosts at bay.
 
Sophomore Michael McCormick (Lorton, Va./Paul VI Catholic) clinched it for the Bullets, striking with 1:46 remaining before Washington set the final score with 41 seconds left.