GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Junior
Brian Kolen (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) struck for a career-high seven goals and junior defenseman
Mitch Wykoff (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) added a pair of tallies as eighth-ranked Gettysburg College handed No. 19 Stevenson University a 16-9 decision Saturday at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
Gettysburg (3-1) jumped out with a four-goal run and capitalized on three separate three-goal runs in the second half to get by Stevenson (1-2). Kolen played his part, topping his previous personal high for goals by one and tying his career high for points with eight. He finished two goals shy of the program record and recorded the best total by a Bullet since
Robby Maddux '15 hit the net seven times against Messiah College on March 4, 2015.
Junior
Michael McCormick (Lorton, Va./Paul VI Catholic) continued his hot start to the season with four goals and an assist. McCormick has tallied at least five points in three of the team's first four games. Wykoff sprang out of the backfield for a pair of goals to go along with five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Sophomore defenseman
Andrew Horn (Bronxville, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) posted three ground balls and three caused turnovers and chipped in offensively with an assist.
Freshman goalie
Scott MacMillan (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) produced his best outing of the season with seven of his season-high 13 saves coming in the third quarter. Sophomore
Alex Ulrich (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) went 9-of-15 on face-offs.
Ethan Christensen paced Stevenson with two goals and two assists. Gray McKee tallied a pair of goals and Sam Ross managed 13 saves in cage.
Both starting goalies jumped out to strong starts with Ross posting a trio of saves and MacMillan notching a stop on a shot by Christensen in the first five minutes of play. The Bullets eventually found the seam in the defense and struck four times over the next three minutes, including two by McCormick to make it 4-0 with six minutes left in the opening quarter.
Following a Stevenson goal and a pair of stops by Ross, Horn squashed a clear by the Mustangs with a caused turnover and Kolen converted on the other end off a feed by senior
Mike Risser (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown East) to hand the hosts a 5-1 lead.
After McKee scored the first goal of the second quarter, Wykoff answered right back, racing the ball up the field following a failed clear by the visitors and heading straight to the cage with 6:28 left in the first half. Kolen pushed the advantage to 7-3 later in the frame, but Christensen trimmed the deficit with an incredible behind-the-head shot into the top left corner of the cage just before halftime.
Just 34 seconds into the third quarter, Christensen dished it off to Jacob Tatum to cut the margin down to two (7-5). MacMillan stood tall in cage over the next seven minutes for the Orange and Blue, knocking away a total of four shots to preserve the lead. Kolen made the defensive performance stand up with a man-up goal at 7:06, kicking off a 3-0 run by the hosts. Wykoff scored his second goal in transition to make it 10-5.
The Mustangs tried to rally with a pair of goals to end the third quarter, but the Bullets put the game to bed with a 6-2 advantage in the final period. Senior
Jack Harvey (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) kicked off a three-goal run to start the frame and Kolen polished off a second 3-0 spurt with an assist and two goals to close the game.
Gettysburg finished with the advantage in shots (45-38), ground balls (34-29), and face-offs won (15-12). The Bullets forced Stevenson into eight failed clears.
Gettysburg hosts No. 6 York (Pa.) College on Wednesday, March 6, at 3:30 p.m.