Division III Men :      April 13, 2002 [ The Game Story]
Gettysburg 12 Salisbury State 8 Scoring: Scoring: Jake Vannostrand Wes Cadman Kevin Smith Vinny Merlino Rich Sharp Nick Purkat Pete Milliman Sean Mcternan Chris Baran (4, 1) (1, 2) (2, 1) (1, 1) (1, 1) (0, 2) (1, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) Andy Arnold Chris Phillips Ryan Shiley Cory O'neil Scott Simmons Steve Brianas Evan Howard Brian Oakley Justin Smith (2, 0) (2, 0) (2, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) (0, 1) (0, 1) (0, 1) (0, 1) Saves: Saves: Tim Mcginnis 22  (0.733) Dan Korpon 9  (0.429) Current Record :     (10-1) Current Record :     (9-3) Team Page For 2002 Team Page For 2002       The Game Story:

The Gettysburg Bullets defeated the Salisbury Seagulls last year during the regular season in an overtime game down on the Seagulls' turf. This year the Gulls were coming up north from the eastern shore looking for a little revenge on the Bullets' home field. These two aren't battling for an AQ, they aren't even in the same conference. Salisbury and Gettysburg are just two very good, highly competitive programs that have built up quite a rivalry over the years which seems to produce a lot of exciting games to watch. Today's matchup of the visiting #7-Salisbury State Seagulls versus the #2-Gettysburg Bullets would be no different.

By the looks of the scoreboard at the end of the first quarter one wouldn’t be able to tell, but the opening quarter of this #2 vs #7 match up was all Salisbury. The Seagulls struck first when freshmen attackman #3-Chris Phillips converted a #13-Evan Howard feed at the 12:26 mark of the first quarter. It took Gettysburg over 8 minutes after that to notch their first score of the day as Bullet attackman #13-Jake Van Nostrand finished an unassisted goal off at 4:22 tying it 1-1. Salisbury’s Phillips struck again as he took a #49-Justin Smith feed and gave the Gulls a 2-1 lead at the end of the first. If you were watching this game it may have appeared as if the Bullets were in a little over their heads as the Gulls out shot them 17-5 in the opening quarter. If not for 8 big saves by Bullet goaltender #6-Tim McGinnis, a few pipes, and a few blown shots by Salisbury from in close, this one could have been ugly. By the sounds of the bold and loud Salisbury fans that made the trip up north, the wet and muddy field conditions, and the 2-1 score it was obvious we had a serious lacrosse game on our hands.

The second quarter was not a thing of beauty either but there was definitely some exciting play going down on the field. Both teams went back and forth putting together some scoring opportunities, yet neither team could put anything up until the 9:01 mark in the second when #25-Ryan Shiley scored unassisted to make it 3-1 Salisbury. The game continued with Gettysburg putting more heat on in the offensive end and it finally paid off when midfielder #22-Sean McTernan scored with just over a minute to go in the half. Just as the Bullets have been doing all year, they scrapped back and tied the game up at 3 when #8-Rich Sharp dodged down the left pipe and finished from about 8 yards out with a low to low shot. This left the scoreboard holding a pair of threes at half time as the two teams went inside to get out of the rain and get ready for a dogfight. Gettysburg came close to evening out the first half shot totals. After being out shot 17-5 in the first quarter, the Bullets out shot the Seagulls 14 –4 in the second quarter (21-19 in Salisbury favor). Salisbury was not shy starting off the second half as they scored the first goal of the third quarter with not even two minutes gone in the quarter. #2-Corey O’Neil (a true attackman that Salisbury likes to bring out of the box as a midfielder) gave the Gulls a 4-3 lead by beating the Bullets defense off a #14-Brian Oakley feed. This would actually be the last time the Seagulls would be ahead of the Bullets all day. Gettysburg would go on a three-goal run led by Van Nostrand who picked up a loose ball and #4-Kevin Smith who finished it off up top at 12:47 in the third to tie the game up at 4. Those two would then reverse roles less then a minute later when Smith would feed Van Nostrand to give the Bullets a 5-4 lead, a lead they would not relinquish. The Bullets drew a one-minute slashing penalty on the Van Nostrand goal, which would prove costly. Gettysburg’s face-off man #12-John Czerapowicz would gain possession almost immediately on the man-up face and would set up the long-distance shot of the day. #16-Pete Milliman would take #33-Wes Cadman wing feed at the top of the box and let one fly first class to the upper shelf. Milliman’s goal from wayyyy out gave the Bullets a 6-4 lead and helped to give them a little momentum (which up until this scoring run seemed to be hanging out on the Seagull sideline all day). Salisbury’s Shiley scored his second goal of the day and helped stop the Bullets three-goal run to make it 6-5. The third quarter would end with the scoreboard reading 7-5 as Gettysburg pumped one last goal in as midfielder #3-Vinny Merlino converted a Sharp feed from the goalie’s right side.

Merlino’s goal would be the start of another Bullet three-goal scoring streak as they pumped in the first two goals of the fourth quarter. The Gulls had been the first team to strike in all three of the first three quarters. The fourth quarter was the first time the Bullets scored the opening goal of a quarter. Kevin Smith finished off his second goal of the day in a busted up unsettled situation, putting his scoring partner in crime for the day Van Nostrand on deck. In a textbook unsettled situation Merlino carried the ball down into the box until he drew a man, he then dumped the ball to his side to Van Nostrand who was waiting wide on the wing to finish it off. This gave the Bullets a four-goal 9-5 lead. Some teams may have started to fold at this point, but anyone that knows Salisbury lacrosse would tell you otherwise. The Gulls always known for their deadly transition game and fiery style of play were not letting down now. The two teams exchanged goals in the thirteenth minute of the fourth to make it 10-6. The play that put the Gulls right back into the game wound up being when #1-Andy Arnold quickly scored off a #4-Steve Brianas feed to make it 10-7, but most importantly they drew a slashing call to the head to give them a man-up opportunity. Salisbury would win the ensuing face-off and Arnold would score his second goal in a row unassisted to bring the score back within two at 10-8. With the Seagulls clawing their way back into the game, the Bullets converted on two very crucial man-up opportunities. The eleventh goal of the day for the Bullets came when their man-up swung the ball through the X and got the Gulls man-down in a full rotation. #2-Chris Baran took a ball on the shallow right wing and skimmed one low-to-low off the Musselman Stadium mud to make it 11-8. As Salisbury pressured out to try and get the ball flowing their way they drew another costly penalty. The Bullets would finish off the day’s scoring as Cadman found a seem in the Seagull man-down defense and righty quick sticked in a #5-Nick Purkat feed. The final game score was 12-8, but a much closer battle was fought today then the four-goal differential would make it appear. The Gulls vs Bullets rivalry rolled on with yet another classic.

Tale of the Tape

Salisbury EMO was 1 of 4 on the day versus Gettysburg EMO which was 3 of 5 (2 of 2 in the last 10 minutes of the game).

Salisbury out shot Gettysburg 43-35 with Salisbury’s goalie #33-Dan Korpon making 9 saves on the day versus Gettysburg’s goalie #6-Tim McGinnis making a career high 22 saves.

Gettysburg won 14 of 24 face-offs on the day, 11 of 16 in the second half.

Jake Van Nostrand scored a game high 4 goals on only 4 shots.

Salisbury moves to 9-3 on the year and will face Virginia Wesleyan next before ending their season with their traditional war against WAC. Gettysburg moves to 10-1 on the year and will finish out their regular season with two Centennial Conference games against Dickinson and Franklin and Marshall. These two teams may see each other again possibly in the playoffs and hopefully it will b as exciting as it was today.

It was raining all day so sorry if some of these pictures are a little foggy.