Dickinson College learned a hard lesson Saturday afternoon at Biddle Stadium: never count Gettysburg College out! The 12th-ranked Bullets reeled off the game's final five goals to shock the host Red Devils and pull off a 9-7 comeback victory in their opening contest of the 2021 campaign. Gettysburg's Top Performers Kieran Ward '22 (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) – 3 Goals, 2 Assists, 4 Ground Balls Jack Fletcher '21 (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day School) – Goal, Assist, 2 Ground Balls Nick Cooper '21 (Glen Gardner, N.J./Gill St. Bernard's) – Goal, Assist Kyle Howard '23 (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery) – Goal, Assist Aidan Wykoff '23 (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) – Goal, Assist Andrew Horn '21 (Bronxville, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) – 5 Ground Balls, 2 Caused Turnovers Alex Ulrich '21 (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) – 10-16 Face-Offs Nolan Sullivan '24 (Wilmington, Mass./Holderness) – 11 Saves Dickinson's Top Performers Sascha Gannon – 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 2 Ground Balls Colin Kovacs – 2 Goals, Assist John McKee – 3 Ground Balls Peter O'Sullivan – 2 Ground Balls, 3 Caused Turnovers Stroud Corr – 11 Saves How It Happened… First Quarter Gettysburg's defense kept Dickinson in check early with Sullivan, making his first collegiate start in goal, posting a save on a shot by Will Farrell and Horn forcing a turnover on the Red Devils' first two possessions. The Bullets connected on their first goals of the season not long after with Ward striking from in front of the cage at 11:10. Less than 50 seconds later, Ward rifled a pass in front of the goal and Cooper flipped a diving shot into the net to spot the visitors a 2-0 lead. Dickinson eventually found its way to cage later in the period with back-to-back goals by Patrick Mangan and Gannon 45 seconds apart tying the contest. Howard gave Gettysburg the lead late in the first quarter, catching a pass from Wykoff and sending a shot past Corr at 3:50. Second Quarter The teams traded goals early in the second period with Wykoff twirling a shot into the goal on a pass from Fletcher at 11:20. The Red Devils' defense kept the Bullets from getting a clean look at the cage and forced three turnovers in the final 5:37 of the half. The hosts took advantage of the defensive effort by tying the game on a shot by Kovacs and then taking the lead on a goal by Will Farrell before the break. Third Quarter Dickinson held the upper hand in the third quarter as Corr posted four stops to keep Gettysburg out of the scoring column. The Red Devils accounted for the period's only tally as Gannon connected with less than five minutes left in the frame. Fourth Quarter The hosts were cruising early in the fourth quarter and intended to put more marks on the board, but Sullivan thought otherwise and stonewalled back-to-back attempts by Tucker Booth and Skyler Schulter. Sophomore McCain Wnek (Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover) scored Gettysburg's first goal of the second half on a pass from Ward with 8:48 to play. Time was falling off the clock as the Bullets continued to press late in the game, but Corr managed three-straight saves to prevent a comeback initially. A penalty on Dickinson helped set the stage for the final rally as freshman Quinton Mather (Avon, Conn./Avon Old Farms) scored a man-up goal with 3:16 to play. With Ulrich dominating face-offs, the Bullets completed the rally in quick fashion. Ward turned in each of the next two scores, rocketing a shot from deep to tie the game at the two-minute mark before dumping a short shot into the cage for an 8-7 lead 15 seconds later. Horn corralled the ensuing ground ball on the next face-off and Gettysburg was able to take advantage of Corr attempting to double-team as Cooper found Fletcher in front for an easy score with 49 seconds to go. Horn capped the comeback by knocking the ball away from Farrell in the final 25 seconds. By the Numbers Gettysburg led in shots (40-32), ground balls (23-18), and face-off wins (10-6). The teams posted the same number of saves (11) and turnovers (12). Gettysburg was playing its first game of the 2021 season after suffering two postponements. It was the Bullets' first outing since scoring the final four goals to beat Washington & Lee University 12-11 on March 11, 2020. The Bullets' habit of scoring late carried over from 2020. In each of the seven games played last spring, Gettysburg scored at least the final two goals. Over the last eight games, the Bullets have out-scored their opponents 30-9 in the fourth quarter and overtime. Ward equaled his career point total with five points against Dickinson. The junior scored five points as a freshman before missing most of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. Sullivan's 11 saves marked the most by a Gettysburg first-year goalie since Scott MacMillan '22 tallied 11 stops against St. John Fisher in 2019. Where the Series Stands Gettysburg picked up its 50th victory against Dickinson since the start of the series in 1958. The Bullets are 50-13 all-time against the Red Devils and have won the last three match ups. Each of the last six contests have been decided by three goals or less. Next Up Gettysburg hosts No. 11 Ursinus College next Saturday, April 10, at 4 p.m. Spectators are not permitted at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium due to health and safety protocols. The game will be streamed live and feature live stats.