Ruth, #18 Gettysburg Tip Garnet 2-1
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Gettysburg junior forward Savannah Ruth scored twice in the second half to lead the 18th-ranked Bullets to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Swarthmore in the Centennial Conference opener for both schools on Saturday afternoon.
Swarthmore (5-3 overall, 0-1 Centennial) opened up an early 1-0 lead when forwards Abigail Fischer '08 and Lindsay Roth '07 got loose in the Bullets' defensive end. Fischer squeezed off a shot that Gettysburg goalie Katherine Corkhill pushed away, right to the stick of Roth, who banged the ball home for her second goal of the season at 3:31.
The Garnet had another golden opportunity in the 30th minute - senior Summer Spicer cracked an outside blast that Corkhill saved, senior forward Julia Morrison swiped at the rebound, and Corkhill fell on top of the ball. Swarthmore was awarded a penalty stroke but Corkhill turned away Spicer's attempt to hit the top right corner of the cage, keeping the score 1-0 in Swarthmore's favor.
The Garnet held an 8-6 shot advantage through the first 35 minutes, while the Bullets took three penalty corners to Swarthmore's two.
The Bullets (5-2 overall, 1-0 CC) evened the affair early in the second half converting a penalty corner at the 46:20 mark. Gettysburg senior forward Maura Downey put hard shot on goal and Ruth tipped the ball into the cage for her second score of the year.
Gettysburg took a 2-1 with another goal by Ruth, this one coming in the same fashion as her first; freshman forward Lexie Hearn controlled the penalty corner at the top of the circle and sent a blast into the scrum. Ruth deftly re-directed the shot past Swarthmore goalie Karen Lorang at 64:25 to secure the Bullets' sixth consecutive victory over the Garnet.
An even contest through-out, the Garnet had a slight advantage in shots (19-18) while Gettysburg took more corners (9-6).
Corkhill made 11 saves in goal for the Bullets while Lorang turned away six scoring attempts.
Swarthmore returns to action at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at Bryn Mawr while Gettysburg travels to Baltimore to face Johns Hopkins on Sept. 27.