Bullets Unload Clip on Senior Day
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- The Garnet men's lacrosse team suffered a hit to its Conference playoff hopes, falling to sixth-ranked Gettysburg on Senior Day Saturday afternoon, 16-5, in Centennial action at Clothier Field.
Prior to the game, Swarthmore head coach Pat Gress honored the seven Garnet senior men that will graduate in May, bringing the players and their parents to field level to receive flowers. Those honored on Saturday were midfielder David DeSimone (Ronkonkoma, N.Y. / Connetquot), defenseman Jesse Handler (Baltimore, Md. / Friends School), midfielder Henry Heaton (Geneva, N.Y. / Geneva), long-stick midfielder Jesse Metzger (New York, N.Y. / Cape Elizabeth [ME]), midfielder Will Predun (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. / Cold Spring Harbor), attacker Stelios Wilson (Moorestown, N.J. / Mooretown), and midfielder Ben Young (Washington, D.C. / St.Alban’s).
The seniors may have been the ones receiving the pre-game billing, but it was a junior--Swarthmore attacker Tyler Bradshaw (Marietta, Ga. / Lassiter)—stealing the Garnet spotlight. Bradshaw opened the game with the first goal at 13:47 and ended the afternoon with a hat-trick, assuming the team lead with 19 goals on the season.
Not much else went Swarthmore’s way as Gettysburg got a stranglehold on the contest with a 7-0 run following Bradshaw’s opening goal. Bullet attacker Joe Brody efficiently directed the Gettysburg offense, accounting for five assists on the run (Brody finished with a game-high seven points on a goal and six assists).
Bradshaw snapped the Gettysburg run with an unassisted goal at 7:37 in the second period, making it 7-2 in favor of the visitors. The Bullets added two more goals before Wilson beat the halftime horn by deflecting a shot from midfielder Gavin Musynske ’10 (Floral Park, N.Y. / Floral Park Memorial) into the Gettysburg cage, getting the Garnet within 9-3.
The Bullets opened up a 12-3 lead with three scores in the third period. Swarthmore freshman Max Hubbard (Washington, D.C. / St. Alban’s) opened the fourth with an unassisted score, his ninth on the season. Bradshaw would post his third score in the final minutes of the contest, giving him 21 points overall.
Gettysburg starting goalie Zach Furshman played nearly 52 minutes, posting eight saves for the win. His Swarthmore counterpart, junior Kevin Friedenberg (Needham, Mass. / Needham), also accounted for eight saves in over 55 minutes of action.
Gettysburg held a slim 39-38 advantage in shots while picking up five more ground balls (36-31) than the Garnet.
Bullets’ attacker Zach Pucci led all scorers with four goals while Tim O’Donnell and Josh Reichert added two goals apiece.
The Garnet now sits in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Centennial standings with McDaniel and Muhlenberg. Four teams get in to the dance and three cards are already filled out (Gettysburg, Haverford, and Washington). Swarthmore finishes the season with two road games, traveling to Drew (N.J.) University on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference game before the season finale at rival Haverford (ranked eighth in the country) next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.