If you said that the NCAA Quarterfinal game at Gettysburg today between the Gettysburg College Bullets and the Salisbury University Seagulls would have been a single digit slugfest, I probably would have asked if you were crazy. Gettysburg is averaging over 14 goals a game and the Salisbury style of play is to D3 what Syracuse is to D1. Needless to say, this game would be a defensive battle from start to finish. There was only one goal scored in the third quarter and that came literally as the horn sounded to end the quarter. If not for the play of the Gettysburg defense and unreal goaltending by Bullet keeper Tim McGinnis this game should have been a victory for Salisbury. The Seagulls were ahead in every major statistical category (shots, gbs, and face-offs) except the one that mattered, the scoreboard.

The Seagulls took possession of the opening face-off and controlled the ball for the first four minutes but were unable to capitalize on any of their opportunities. When the Bullets finally got possession they scored at the 10:24 mark when #13 Jake Van Nostrand scored unassisted to put the Bullets up 1-0. Salisbury would respond less than a minute later when they scored at the 9:29 mark as a man up expired when #4 Steve Brianas ducked under a defensemen’s check, tiptoed the crease and wrapped it around McGinnis. This would be the only scoring on the quarter as Bullet goalie McGinnis made some spectacular saves to keep the Gulls off the board and the Bullet offense struggled to get anything going.

The Gulls would strike first in the second quarter when a loose ball bounced through the Bullets crease and found its way into the stick of #22-Chris Lauer who finished it off at the 12:04 mark to make it 2-1. The Bullets would come back and tie it up at 2 when they capitalized with the only man-up goal of the day for either team, when #5-Nick Purkat threw a no-look feed across the crease to Van Nostrand who quick-sticked it in for his second goal of the day. With the score knotted at 2 apiece, the Bullets would score their last goal of the first half at the 6:48 mark in the second quarter when Van Nostrand would complete his hat trick off a feed from #20 Ric Bremer. The Seagulls would answer just over 2 minutes later at the 4:35 mark when #49 Justin Smith scored on a feed from #1 Andy Arnold. This would even the score at 3 apiece and finish out the scoring for the first half. With both teams defenses on top of their games, neither team getting much going in transition, and each team settling the ball down behind the cage as much as possible in 6 on 6 situations, it was quite apparent that every goal would be huge in getting one of these two teams into the next round.

The third quarter was straight up UGLY. Gettysburg managed 6 total shots, turned the ball over 10 times, and failed to even get the ball into the restraining box on their lone man-up situation. Salisbury managed 11 total shots (2 which were on man-up), turned the ball over 11 times, and failed to convert on their third and last man-up of the day. The lone goal of the third quarter came as time expired. Salisbury had the ball on the endline with 2.7 seconds left on the clock. Salisbury attackman #45 Joe Tamberrino fed #23 Scott Simmons curling off a pick who launched a high bouncer that snuck under the top pipe as the horn sounded. This gave Salisbury a 4-3 lead and momentum heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter wouldn’t be much prettier, but it was the one that really mattered as the Bullets went on a 4-0 run when they opened scoring at the 10:23 mark with a Purkat unassisted goal. Up until this time the Seagull defense had held the Gettysburg offense scoreless for over 26 minutes. Purkat broke this drought by running by his man in the lower left corner, tucking his stick, and finishing in close to tie the game up at 4. The Bullets struck again just 21 seconds later when Bremer took a #16 Pete Milliman feed right in front of the goalie and stuck it 5-hole to give Gettysburg their first lead since the 4:35 mark of the second quarter. The momentum that Salisbury had grabbed at the end of the third seemed to be slowly shifting to the Orange and Blue. Gettysburg’s next goal came at the 8:33 mark when #33 Wes Cadman was able to withstand some serious pressure and ran righty from behind the goal and finished over the top of goaltender #33 Dan Korpon. The Bullets fourth and final goal in the run came at the 5:24 mark when Purkat scored his second goal of the fourth quarter on a low lefty shot that snuck into the lower left corner giving the Bullets a 7-4 lead. The Seagulls lone goal of the fourth quarter came with 1:17 left in the game on a 2-1 unsettled situation when Brianas fed Arnold who dipped-and-dunked it on McGinnis. Salisbury won the ensuing face-off and was able to get off two shots, one that was blocked in front and one that went wide. The Bullets gained possession off a turnover with 3 seconds left and that would be the game. While the Salisbury defense was able to force another 12 turnovers in the fourth quarter, it was the Bullets offense that scored four goals on eight shots in the fourth that made the big difference in this one.

The story of this game wasn’t the turnovers or necessarily the play of both teams’ defenses, the story of this game was Bullet goaltender Tim McGinnis who finished with 16 saves many of them highlight film material. The Salisbury Seagulls finish their season 13-5. One thing is for certain next season, look out for Salisbury as they graduate only 3 starters and return 10 of their 11 top scorers. The Gettysburg Bullets move to 16-1 on the year and earn the right to play the Washington and Lee Generals at Musselman Stadium next weekend in the Final Four.

Gettysburg vs. Salisbury State

Gettysburg

7

Scoring
Nick Purkat	(2, 1)
Jake Vannostrand	(3, 0)
Ric Bremer	(1, 1)
Pete Milliman	(0, 1)
Wes Cadman	(1, 0)

Saves
Tim Mcginnis	16 (0.762)

Current Record
Gettysburg	16-1

Salisbury State

5

Scoring
Steve Brianas	(1, 1)
Andy Arnold	(1, 1)
Chris Lauer	(1, 0)
Scott Simmons	(1, 0)
Justin Smith	(1, 0)
Joe Tamberrino	(0, 1)

Saves
Dan Korpon	6 (0.462)

Current Record
Salisbury State	13-5