GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore Brian Kolen (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) poured in six goals and two assists and the third-ranked Gettysburg College men's lacrosse team clinched the top seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference playoffs with a 17-4 Centennial Conference (CC) victory over McDaniel on Wednesday at a rainy Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
 
The Bullets (14-1, 7-0 CC) pushed their winning streak to eight while locking up the top seed in the CC tournament for the third time in the last four years.
 
Kolen's six goals were a career-high and the most by a Bullet since Tommy Heller (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) and Jameson Smith '16 scored six apiece in the team's 18-8 victory over Swarthmore in the CC semifinals.
 
Gettysburg will now host a conference semifinal game next Wednesday versus the No. 4 seed, which has yet to be determined.
 
Junior Jack Harvey (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) added three goals and four assists for the Bullets while juniors Andrew Garstka (Springfield, Va./Paul VI Catholic) and Blake Gray (Reistertown, Md./McDonogh School) scored three goals apiece. Sophomore Michael McCormick (Lorton, Va./Paul VI Catholic) dished out a career-high four assists for Gettysburg, which outshot McDaniel 41-27.
 
Senior Tim Brady (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) helped lead the defensive effort for the Bullets, saving six shots over 49:15 of action. Sophomore defenseman Mitch Wykoff (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) added five ground balls and two caused turnovers while sophomore Connor Hunt (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) won 10 of his 16 face-off attempts.
 
McDaniel (6-10, 1-7 CC) struck for a pair of early goals to assume a 2-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest. However, that's when Gettysburg broke the game open with an 8-0 run that spanned the first through the third quarters.
 
Garstka and Harvey each scored in the first quarter to tie the game at 2-all before the Bullets outscored the Green Terror 5-0 in the second period. Kolen netted three goals in the quarter while Garstka and Gray also connected as Gettysburg took a 7-2 advantage into the locker room.
 
Hunt kicked off the second half with a goal nine seconds into the period. McDaniel stemmed the rally just over two minutes later, making it 8-3, before the Bullets put the game away with a 9-0 run. Gettysburg ended the third quarter on a 7-0 surge, with Gray, Harvey, and Kolen each converting twice and the Bullets led 15-3 heading into the final period.
 
Kolen buried his final tally early in the fourth quarter before freshman Cole Franchi (Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls) connected for his first career goal at the 4:57 mark. The Green Terror set the final goal with a late man-up goal.
 
Gettysburg concludes the regular season on Saturday, when it visits Washington College in a Centennial Conference tilt starting at noon.