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Gettysburg College Athletics

The Bullets gather in a group to celebrate following a goal against Messiah.
Thia Anyaoku
Gettysburg scored the final seven goals to beat Messiah on Saturday (Photo by Thia Anyaoku '23).
10
Messiah MESSM 0-1
16
Winner Gettysburg GCM 1-0
Messiah MESSM
0-1
10
Final
16
Gettysburg GCM
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Messiah MESSM 4 5 1 0 10
Gettysburg GCM 3 5 2 6 16

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Bullets Heat Up in Second Half to Claim Opener

No. 10 Gettysburg out-scores Messiah 8-1 in second half of 16-10 win

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior Brian Kolen (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) keyed a 7-0 game-ending run with two goals and two assists and senior Chris Crowley (Madison, N.J./Delbarton) recorded eight saves over the final 35 minutes as 10th-ranked Gettysburg College (1-0) turned back Messiah College (0-1) 16-10 in the season opener at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 

Top Performers – Gettysburg
  • Brian Kolen '20 – 4 goals, 2 assists
  • Kyle Howard '23 (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery) – 3 goals, 2 assists
  • Michael McCormick '20 (Lorton, Va./Paul VI Catholic) – 3 goals, assist, 3 ground balls
  • Jack Fletcher '21 (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day School – 2 goals, assist, 4 ground balls
  • Nick Cooper '21 (Glen Gardner, N.J./Gill St. Bernard's) – 2 goals
  • Alex Ulrich '21 (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) – 20-of-26 face-offs, 9 ground balls
  • Mitch Wykoff '20 (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) – 9 ground balls
  • PJ Dettor '21 (Annapolis, Md./Severn School) – 3 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers
  • Chris Crowley '20 – 8 saves, 2 goals allowed, 3 ground balls, caused turnover
 
Top Performers – Messiah
  • Hunter Bellows – 3 goals, assist, 2 ground balls
  • Garrett Amsbaugh – 3 goals
  • Mitch Salanty – 2 goals, 3 ground balls, caused turnover
  • Reed Bond – 3 caused turnovers
  • Kyle Mayer – 3 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
  • Evan Stoker – 12 saves, 16 goals allowed
 
How It Happened…
  • First Quarter
    • Gettysburg came out strong with opening goals by Fletcher and Kolen in less than two minutes. It didn't take long for the Falcons to answer as Bellows found Salanty for a man-up goal before taking it to the rack himself to tie the game.
    • Cooper gave the lead back to the Bullets with a drive to the cage before Bellows struck again. Another goal by Cory Hurst put the Falcons in front 4-3.
  • Second Quarter
    • The teams traded goals before back-to-back tallies by Amsbaugh and Salanty put Messiah in front 8-6. McCormick slipped to the goal for an easy conversion to slice the deficit in half and Crowley entered the game not long after in place of sophomore Scott MacMillan (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga). Bellows welcomed the senior goalie to the game with a hot shot into the net to put the Falcons back up by two (9-7) with 4:30 left in the first half.
    • McCormick once again answered for the Bullets and the defense kept the Falcons off the board by causing a pair of turnovers in the final minutes.
  • Third Quarter
    • McCormick dumped a pass in front to sophomore transfer Spencer Knife (Venice, Calif./Winston Churchill) for a goal to start the second half. Brandon Witmer scored just over a minute later, marking Messiah's last goal of the game.
    • McCormick tickled the twine for the game-tying goal and Crowley picked up three saves over the final 6:13 to preserve the deadlock.
  • Fourth Quarter
    • The offense found its groove in the final period, taking advantage of a penalty at the end of the third quarter to score a man-up goal by first-year George Raymond (Darien, Conn./Suffield Academy) 18 seconds into the frame. Cooper and Howard added unassisted tallies, while Kolen turned in a pair of goals on assists by Fletcher and Howard. Fletcher put a final stamp to the win on the offensive end, ripping a lefty shot into the cage with 5:09 to go.
    • Crowley picked up three saves, while Dettor and junior Connor Leach (Wolfeboro, N.H./Brewster Academy) added caused turnovers to keep Messiah off the board for the remainder of the game.
 
By the Numbers
  • Gettysburg led in shots (41-33), ground balls (44-27), and face-off wins (22-6).
  • Ulrich led a dominant showing on face-offs with his second career 20-win performance as a Bullet. He finished 20-of-26, which was four wins shy of his personal high set last year against Widener. The team won 21-of-31 face-offs against Messiah last year.
  • For the second consecutive year, Gettysburg used a late run to get by Messiah. In 2019, the Falcons led 9-7 in the third quarter before the Bullets tossed in nine of the next 10 goals. In last year's meeting and today's contest, McCormick provided the first goal to spark Gettysburg's game-ending run.
  • Newcomers accounted for six goals in the victory. Howard led the way with three goals, while Raymond and Knife each tossed in one goal.
  • Crowley recorded his first win in goal since earning the decision against Dickinson in 2018. The senior keeper doubled his previous career high for saves against Messiah.
  • Kolen slid past Jameson Smith '16 for 12th on Gettysburg's career list for points. The senior attackman also cracked the top 10 on the Bullets' goal list, moving ahead of Smith into the No. 9 spot with 127. Kolen is one goal behind Neill Mitchell '83 for eighth.
  • Wykoff tracked down nine ground balls for the second consecutive season opener. He already holds the Gettysburg record for ground balls by a defenseman and he is just four shy of reaching 250 for his career.
 
Where the Series Stands
Gettysburg improved to 20-0 all-time against Messiah.
 
Next Up
Gettysburg heads to Goucher College on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 3:30 p.m.
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