GETTYSBURG, Pa. – No. 8 Gettysburg College turned in its best defensive effort of the season and nearly blanked Swarthmore College for the entire second half in a 14-3 victory in Centennial Conference men's lacrosse action at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
The weather was perfect for Gettysburg (9-3, 3-1 CC) to turn in its best defensive performance of the season, holding Swarthmore (7-3, 3-0 CC) to a season low for goals and forcing 21 turnovers. The Garnet did not score a goal in the second half until 67 seconds were left on the clock.
 
Despite the defensive stance, it was a goal with about seven minutes left that highlighted the victory. Freshman Elon Tuckman (Princeton, N.J./Princeton Day School) caught a pass from senior Jack Harvey (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) in front of the cage and flipped it into the net for his fifth goal of the season with 7:02 remaining in the game.
 
Tuckman's goal came one day shy of the four-year anniversary of the tragic loss of his mother, Victoria, to breast cancer. The game was dedicated in her honor and the team sold t-shirts to support Stand Up to Cancer, (www.standuptocancer.org), an organization that funds and develops the newest and most promising cancer treatments to help patients today.
 
Offensively, senior Blake Gray (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh School) poured in five goals and junior Brian Kolen (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) tossed in four goals and dished out two assists. Senior Andrew Garstka (Springfield, Va./Paul VI Catholic) tallied two goals and one assist, while Harvey dished out four assists.
 
Junior Connor Hunt (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) turned in a strong outing at the "X," going 13-of-19 and tracking down nine ground balls. Juniors Mitch Wykoff (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) and Eric Carr (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Academy of the New Church) each corralled four ground balls. Freshman goalie Scott MacMillan (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) logged 10 saves in 53 minutes.
 
Gettysburg was revved up for the game and the team didn't waste any time lighting the lamp. Hunt won the opening face-off and tossed it to Kolen who found sophomore Jack Fletcher (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day School) in front of the goal for a score seven seconds into the game. Gray and Kolen added tallies to push the margin to 3-0.
 
Ryan Mulvey scored Swarthmore's first goal on a feed from 9:22, but it would be a long time before the Garnet would strike again. Gettysburg's defense held the Garnet scoreless over the next 21 minutes, forcing seven turnovers and getting three saves from MacMillan. The offense continued to roll with Gray, Garstka, and Kolen all striking twice during a 6-0 run to push the margin to 9-1.
 
Austin Chang scored before the end of the first half to cut the deficit to 9-2.
 
MacMillan posted three saves in the early minutes of the third quarter to keep Swarthmore off the board. A failed clear – one of eight in the game for Swarthmore – led to Gettysburg's first goal of the second half as Harvey dropped it in front to Gray who spun to his left and flipped a low shot into the goal. Harvey added another assist in transition to a sprinting Kolen to give the Bullets an 11-2 lead after three quarters.
 
Gettysburg continued its dominance with goals by Gray and Tuckman before senior Ian Harrington (Chadds Ford, Pa./Salisbury School) closed out the scoring with 2:56 to play. The Garnet ended a 32-minute scoring drought with a man-up goal by Mason Evarts with just over a minute remaining.
 
Gettysburg finished with advantages in shots (42-32) and ground balls (36-30), while finishing 26-of-27 on clear attempts.
 
The Bullets host No. 10 Dickinson College on Wednesday, April 10, at 3:30 p.m.