Release courtesy of Gettysburg Athletic Communications

Carlisle, Pa. - After dropping their first two meetings this season, No. 16 Gettysburg College would not be denied on Sunday, defeating No. 7 Dickinson College 17-7 in the third round of the NCAA men's lacrosse championships at Biddle Field.    
 
The Bullets (14-7) advanced to next Saturday's quarterfinals, where they will meet No. 8 Union College (N.Y.).  The Dutchmen (16-2) defeated Western New England University 21-11 in a third-round matchup on Sunday.
 
Saturday's quarterfinal between Gettysburg and Union will be played at Christopher Newport University, where the host Captains (18-1) will take on York College (Pa.) (19-2) in Saturday's other quarterfinal. The two winners will meet in the semifinal round on Sunday with a trip to the national championship game on the line.
 
To reach the quarterfinals, Gettysburg needed to overcome a strong Dickinson squad that was undefeated and had defeated the Bullets in the regular season (15-9) and the Centennial Conference championship game (10-9 in overtime).
 
Gettysburg was able to do just that on Sunday, combining a solid defensive effort with a powerful attack that has now scored 31 goals through its first two games of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Eight Bullets recorded multi-point performances on Sunday as Gettysburg put up the most goals against the Red Devils (19-1) this season while matching its third-best offensive output o the spring. The 17 goals were the most the Bullets scored since a 20-7 win over McDaniel College on April 13.
 
Senior Spencer Knife (Venice, Calif./Winston Churchill) led all players with five points on three goals and two assists, while junior Aidan Wykoff (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) scored a career-high four goals for Gettysburg.
 
Senior Kieran Ward (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) netted a hat trick while senior Connor Hume (Elkridge, Md./Loyola Blakesfield) (2 goals, 1 assist), junior George Raymond (Darien, Conn./Suffield Academy) (1 goal, 2 assists) and junior Kyle Howard (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery) (1 goal, 2 assists) finished with three points apiece.
 
Junior McCain Wnek (Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover) added a goal and an assist, while freshman Jack Dunleavy (New Providence, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) dished out a pair of assists.
 
Senior Griffin Gallagher (Ardmore, Pa./Shipley School) and freshman Andy Marquet (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) also scored for the Bullets in the ten-goal victory.
 
The two teams traded goals during the first quarter of Sunday's matchup, with Knife scoring twice for Gettysburg, leaving the score tied 2-2 after the opening period. 
 
At that point, Mother Nature intervened, with lighting forcing the game to be delayed for an hour.
 
When play resumed, Gettysburg scored three straight goals to open up a 5-2 advantage at the 6:49 mark of the second quarter. Dickinson used back-to-back markers to pull to within one before Ward found twine off a Knife assist to give the Bullets a 6-4 lead at halftime.
 
Gettysburg netted three straight goals to open the third stanza and give the Bullets a 9-4 cushion before the Red Devils scored a man-down goal at the 5:59 mark to make it a 9-5 game.
 
However, Raymond and Wykoff netted goals in the final 1:22 of the period to give Gettysburg an 11-5 lead heading into the last 15 minutes of regulation.
 
The Bullets stretched their lead to 13-5 in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter before the Red Devils sandwiched a pair of tallies around Wykoff's fourth goal, bringing the score to 14-7 with nine and a half minutes remaining.  
 
Gettysburg closed out the contest with three goals in the final four minutes to put an exclamation point on the big win.
 
Senior goalkeeper Scott MacMillan (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) made 11 saves on the afternoon to post his 14th win of the season while also scooping up three groundballs.
 
Junior Jonathan Moshe (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L Vandermeulen) won a game-high 14 face-offs and picked up a trio of groundballs.
 
Junior Declan Harrigan (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck) collected two caused turnovers and two groundballs while freshman Frank Barbera (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) added a pair of caused turnovers.
 
Knife, Marquet, and juniors Zack Kinsella (Annapolis, Md./Severn School) and Michael Zima (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) all tied with MacMillan and Moshe with three groundballs apiece to tie for the team lead.
 
Gettysburg held the advantage statistically for the game, outshooting Dickinson 42-33 while maintaining a 31-27 advantage in groundballs and a 14-13 edge in face-off wins. The Bullets, who were not flagged for any penalties in the contest, went 25-for-26 on clears and 1-for-2 on extra-man opportunities.
 
The visitors also forced the Red Devils into 13 turnovers while committing just nine giveaways in the win.
 
Gettysburg, making its 27th all-appearance in the NCAA Division III Championships, is looking to advance to the semifinals for the 12th time in program history when it takes on Union next Saturday.
 
Additional information about next weekend's games will be announced in the upcoming days.