GETTYSBURG, Pa. - During the men's lacrosse team's run to the national championship game in 2009, the Bullets twice played the role of giant killer, beating two different No. 1-ranked teams on the road.
Just four games into its 2010 campaign, the squad found itself pitted against yet another top-ranked opponent as it prepared to take on SUNY Cortland in a rematch of the NCAA Division III championship game at a neutral-site location on Long Island.
Behind a stout defense and a balanced offensive attack, the Bullets won the grudge match and pocketed their third straight win over a No. 1. Gettysburg held off a late Red Dragon rally to come away with a 7-5 victory in front of an enthusiastic crowd estimated at over 1,000 at John J. Burns Park in Massapequa, N.Y.
Just as they had in the national championship game, the Bullets established an early advantage, taking a 3-1 lead into the locker room. But this time around, Gettysburg would not surrender its lead in the second half and in fact never trailed the entire game.
The Bullets led just 5-3 heading into the fourth quarter, but goals from
Danno Lynch and
Andrew Ryan 43 seconds apart pushed the advantage to 7-3 with 9:13 left. That score held up until the final minutes before Cortland seized an opportunity, cashing in on a two-man advantage with 2:02 remaining before striking again with 1:23 showing to make it a two-goal game.
The Dragons won the ensuing face-off and were able to get off three more shots the rest of the way. However, sophomore goalie
John LeClerc, playing the biggest game of his career in his first year as a starter, made two big stops inside the final 1:12. He finished with nine saves while five different players scored a goal, with Lynch and
Joe Brody firing in two apiece.
The win gave Gettysburg its first No. 1 ranking in eight years when the USILA Division III poll was released two days later. The Bullets held onto the top spot for a three-week stint and went on to finish 15-3, reach the Centennial Conference championship game, and make a seventh-straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.
