May 4, 2007
Bullets Clip Haverford, 12-11 in Centennial Semifinal Shootout

GETTYSBURG, PA - Second-ranked and top-seeded host Gettysburg edged out fourth-seeded Haverford in a 12-11 shootout Friday afternoon in a Centennial Conference semifinal game. Haverford junior midfielder Shane Hafer paced the Haverford offense with three goals on the afternoon, while senior First Team All-Centennial selection Max Tcheyan contributed two goals and a game-high three assists in the losing effort. Haverford finishes its 2007 campaign with a 8-6 overall record, while Gettysburg improves to 13-2 and will face the winner of the second-seeded Dickinson and third-seeded Washington College game on Sunday in the tournament championship game.

Haverford opened the scoring 1:24 into the game when Hafer scored directly in front of the net on a beautiful pass from Tcheyan. Gettysburg responded 50 seconds later to knot the game at one. With 8:09 left in the first quarter, freshman Brian Fleishhacker scored off a pass from freshman Alex Guy as he was knocked to the ground to lift Haverford to a 2-1 lead. Haverford won the face off after the goal and passed the ball quickly and flawlessly down the field, as Tcheyan scored on a pass from the left side of the net from Hafer, giving Haverford an early 3-1 lead.

Gettysburg's Joe Brody was able to pull the Bullets within 3-2 with just over seven minutes left in the game. The Bullets broke down the field a minute later, but senior goalie K.C. Peterson made an outstanding stop on a shot by Zach Pucci to keep the game at 3-2 in Haverford's favor. However, Haverford was not able to clear the ball off the save and Gettysburg's Ben Sufrin netted a goal from ten yards out to knot the contest at three with five minutes left in the quarter.

Greg Montgomery took the Haverford defense one-on-one and put a shot in the back of the net to put Gettysburg up 4-3 with 3:35 to go in the quarter. Haverford sophomore midfielder Dean Granoff was able to knot the game at four with an unassisted goal with just over a minute to go in the quarter, and that is how the game would stand going into the second quarter.

Haverford Junior defender Joel Censer was called for a cross checking penalty with 13:27 left in the second quarter. Haverford gained possession of the ball after a missed Gettysburg shot, but failed on the clear attempt. Brody passed the ball to Pucci on a two-on-one break and beat Peterson for a man-up goal with 12:47 to go, making the score 5-4. Trip Dyer followed with a unassisted goal, beating a Haverford defender to the net with 9:26 left in the second quarter to extend the Bullets lead to 6-4. Less than a minute later, Montgomery scored a goal off a pass from Dyer to make the score 7-4.

Hafer ended Haverford's scoring drought with a goal assisted by Tcheyan with 8:17 left in the second quarter. Haverford had a goal disallowed due to an illegal procedure seconds later, however Matt Thorne-Fitzgerald found Andrew Kim on a beautiful horizontal pass in front of the net to make the score 7-6 with 5:57 remaining in the second quarter. Pucci gave Gettysburg a two goal advantage on a quick pass from Sufrin with 3:53 to go, as the score stood at 8-6 into the half.

Sufrin opened the second half with a goal 15-yards out 1:16 into the quarter to make the score 9-6. Haverford senior defender Steve Selsor forced a turnover, picked up the ground ball and went on a break down the field, finding Tcheyan who scored off Selsor's pass to pull Haverford within 9-7, but Gettysburg responded less than a minute later to make the score 10-7 with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Haverford had a chance to cut its three-goal deficit closer late in the third quarter, but Gettysburg keeper Pat Vaughan made his first save of the game on a rocketed, point blank shot in front of the net by Hafer to keep the score at 10-7 into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter remained scoreless until Hafer picked up a ground ball of a save by Vaughan and quickly shot it into the back of the net to make the score 10-8. Haverford junior Matt Thorne-Fitzgerald followed with a goal with 6:36 to go off a pass from Fleishhacker to pull Haverford within 10-9. With 3:25 to left, Sufrin scored off a pass from Pucci, but Haverford's Fleishhacker scored a goal off the face off on a pass by Granoff to make the game 11-10, 18 seconds later. 19 seconds after Haverford's goal, Sufrin scored to make the game 12-10 in Gettysburg's favor. With 2:00 to go, Gettysburg was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty, and Haverford had a chance to pull within one goal, but Vaughan made another point blank save on a shot by Tcheyan to hold the game at 12-10. However, with 52.3 seconds left, Guy scored off a pass by Tcheyan to make the score 12-11. Gettysburg won the face off but quickly turned the ball over to give Haverford possession after a time out with 33.2 seconds to go.

After the timeout, Haverford turned the ball over on the offensive end towards midfield, and was called for being offside's, giving the Bullets the opportunity to hold on to the ball for the final 14 seconds en route to the win.

Hafer led Haverford with three goals and added an assist, while Tcheyan contributed two goals and a game-high three assists in the losing effort. Fleishhacker had two goals and an assist and Granoff, Guy and Thorne-Fitzgerald each added a goal and an assist. Selsor had a team-high seven ground balls with an assist. Peterson made ten stops in net in the loss.

Gettysburg's Jimmy Gates scooped up a game-high 13 ground balls and won 18-of-27 face offs in the game. Sufrin and Pucci each had three goals and two assists to lead the Bullets to victory. Vaughan finished with six saves in the game, including five stops in the fourth quarter.

The Bullets out shot Haverford by a 38-23 margin and went 1-for-2 with the extra man, while Haverford went 0-for-3 in extra man opportunities. Gettysburg was successful on 16-of-18 clears while Haverford went 14-for-19 on clear attempts.

Haverford's 11 goals against the Bullets are the most allowed in a game by Gettysburg in 2007. Haverford handed Gettysburg its only Centennial loss of the season back on March 18, defeating the Bullets 6-5.

Box Score