GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The 16th-ranked and second seeded Dickinson men's lacrosse team turned around a 9-7 deficit early in the third quarter by tallying five straight goals and got timely stops from sophomore keeper and tournament Most Valuable Player
Rocco Bognet to secure their fourth-straight Centennial Conference crown with a 13-11 win over the top-seeded Gettysburg College at Musselman Stadium.
- After an early turnover from each side, Dickinson would get chances from Ethan Gess and Cullen Mulhern that went wide before Charlie Baughan found Preston Boyd for the first marker. However, Will Hedley connected with Jackson Alpaugh just ten seconds later to tie the game with 11:44 left.
- The strong defense continued with both teams forcing another giveaway keeping the offenses at-bay until Landen Hyatt buried a dish from Gess at the 7:23 mark. Off the ensuing faceoff win by Ben Trucksess, DC pushed it to 3-1 thanks to Ramsey Huggins.
- Gettysburg would take advantage of a bad pass from Boyd with less than five minutes remaining as Hedley corralled the free ball and got it ahead to Alpaugh who stuck his second of the game.
- The attacks continued to be "red hot" with a pair of Baughan markers surrounding a tally for Jackson Barroll to make it 5-3 through 15 minutes.
- After Murphy Hoey shut the door on Owen Porter, the long-pole Hedley got out in transition and beat Rocco Bognet to cut the margin to 5-4 less than a minute in. The Bullets continued the strong push over a minute later when Declan Mack knotted things back up.
- Evan Karetsos jarred the rock free from the crosse of Jack Dunleavy with just about four minutes gone which led to shots from Tommy Baldini and Whalen going off the mark, before Whalen linked up with Hyatt (6-5). Off the ensuing faceoff win by Trucksess, Baughan finished his hat trick to extend the lead to 7-5.
- The Bullets took advantage of a man-up following the goal with Barroll beating Bognet at the 6:44 mark. Alpaugh would add two more prior to the end of the frame to nudge the hosts in front 8-7 at the break.
- The home side came out firing away with Patrick Maroney taking three shots, eventually leading to a goal at the 2:22 mark to give GC a little bit of room at 9-7.
- On the defensive end, Hoey was strong early turning away both Boyd and Whalen. However, the Devils finally cashed back in off an unsettled chance as Matt Maciolek threw it away to Jamie Book who got it up to Hyatt for the strike still with 9:30 to go.
- A stop by Bognet on a bouncer from Kessler sent the visitors the other way with Baldini finding Hyatt to knot the score at 9-9. Dickinson would then reclaim their lead at the 11:13 mark with Whalen stepping into a blast on the right wing. Dickinson added three more shots prior to the end of the period as the game entered the fourth.
- Both defenses were sharp to start things off with each side causing a pair of turnovers and Bognet denying Alpaugh. That allowed Dickinson to ride the momentum to a Huggins marker at the 4:02 mark off a good setup from Baldini.
- Coming off another Bognet denial the Red and White tried to add onto their lead, but Hoey stopped Gess and Whalen missed the target. However, following another Bognet save as well as a caused turnover by Karetsos the Devils went ahead 12-9 on a strong wing dodge and finish for Huggins inside of seven minutes left.
- After the home side was unable to take advantage of man-up opportunity, they would strike with Dunleavy burying a shot low on Bognet with 3:29 to go.
- Out of a DC timeout, the Bullets would extend their defense bringing Hoey out of the crease to double-team the ball carrier, fortunately, Whalen split the defense and stuck the ball in the empty net to make it 13-10 with two minutes left.
- Gettysburg added one more through Kessler at the 1:12 mark, but from there the Red and White ran out the clock to seal up the title.
- Goals - Hyatt (4), Baughan and Huggins (3)
- Assists - Baldini (2)
- Groundballs - Trucksess (10), Book (5), Karetsos (4), Sam Bunten (3), Ethan Ackerman (2)
- Caused Turnovers - Karetsos (3), Book, Deady and Huggins (1)
- Faceoffs - Trucksess (16-25), Karetsos (0-2)
- Saves - Bognet (9)
- Goals - Alpaugh (4), Barroll (2)
- Assists - Hedley (2)
- Groundballs - Hedley (4), Barbera (3)
- Caused Turnovers - Delduchetto (3)
- Faceoffs - Celotto (7-15), Kuster (3-10)
- Saves - Hoey (8)
- Dickinson (13-5) will now await to find out who they will face in the NCAA Tournament next week. With the win today the Red and White have made a strong case to serve as a host site for the fourth consecutive season. The NCAA Selection Show is tonight at 9pm on ncaa.com. Stay tuned to all Red Devils social media and dickinsonathletics.com for information as it becomes available.
