Robby Maddux, Gettysburg
Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg shattered the record for the most goals in a Centennial Conference (CC) men's lacrosse playoff game, as the top-seeded and second-ranked Bullets ran by Washington College 23-5 in the CC semifinals Wednesday afternoon at a sunny Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
The Bullets (16-0), who extended their school-record winning streak to 16, will now host second-seeded and 13th-ranked Ursinus College in the Centennial Conference championship game on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ursinus defeated third-seeded Dickinson College 8-6 in the other semifinal.
Gettysburg used a 16-0 run spanning 32 minutes to put the game out of reach, holding the Shoremen (6-10) scoreless from the 12:31 mark of the second quarter until the 10:01 mark of the final period.
Gettysburg added three goals to the previous conference playoff scoring record, which Washington set versus the Bullets in last year's semifinals.
The Bullets' 23 goals marked the team's highest scoring output since a 24-1 victory at Susquehanna University on March 15, 2006.
The two sides were meeting for the second time in five days after Gettysburg defeated Washington 11-9 in the regular-season finale for both teams this past Saturday.
Four different Bullets registered a hat trick, with senior Robby Maddux (Baltimore, Md./St. Paul's) leading the way with five goals and one assist. With his third goal of the game, he passed Ric Bremer '02 and moved into second on Gettysburg's career goals list and now has 154.
Senior Bijan Firouzan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) added four goals and one assist while sophomore Sean Fumai (Weston, Conn./Weston) also contributed four goals for a new career-high. In addition, junior Jameson Smith (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) poured in a career-high seven points on three goals and four assists while senior Jimmy Morris (Waccabuc, N.Y./John Jay) added two goals and two assists. Freshman Austin Schoenfeld (Rockville, Md./Thomas S. Wootton) also scored twice.
Freshman Tim Brady (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) made five saves over the opening 50 minutes in goal for the Bullets before junior Jake Adoni (Fort Washington, Pa./Germantown Academy) turned aside a pair of shots the rest of the way. Among the additional defensive leaders were senior Ben Armellini (New Canaan, Conn./Kent School), sophomore Ian Nuzum (San Jose, Calif./Leigh), and sophomore Chris Palladino (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge), who registered two caused turnovers apiece.
The Bullets never trailed after starting the game on a 3-0 run, as Fumai scored two of the team's first three goals. The Shoremen pulled to within 5-3 late in the quarter, but Smith struck with 17 ticks showing to make it a 6-3 game heading into the second stanza.
Tyler Powers tallied with 12:31 left in the first half to pull Washington to within two, but that's when Gettysburg launched into its scoring spree, starting with six unanswered to end the first half. Four different Bullets accounted for the first four, and Maddux capped the period when he went back-to-back to give the Orange and Blue a 12-4 halftime advantage.
Gettysburg outshot the Shoremen 17-7 in the third quarter, when it settled any doubt with eight goals. Six different Bullets scored in the period while Firouzan and Maddux each struck twice.
Junior Paul Werner (Westfield, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) and Maddux scored over the first four minutes of the final quarter to make it 22-4 before Washington ended the run when Stephen Luck scored with 10:01 remaining. Schoenfeld set the final score with 28 seconds left when he converted an assist from senior Adam Narwicz (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington), who notched his first career point.
Gettysburg outshot the Shoremen 46-32 and held a 30-29 edge in ground balls. The Bullets were successful on 15-of-16 clears and converted all three of their man-up opportunities.