Midyear Report

 

December 26, 2017

 

Although the Bullets have played a majority of their games this season, they get a well-deserved break for the holidays and we want to take a moment to cap off the highlights from the first semester. 

 

Gettysburg Hockey got off to their season start with a September Away game against long-time rivals Dickinson College. The goals went out in blocks; first Dickinson led 3-0 and then Gettysburg came back with 5 in a row before Dickinson reeled off another 3. With 18 seconds to play Gettysburg evened the score, only to lose in over time. It was to be the beginning and end of their Dickinson rivalry as the Red Devils were put on probation shortly thereafter. 

 

A week later Gettysburg was short on players and ended up in a practice scrimmage against Mount St. Mary's with the Mount lending some players to the Bullets. It was a fun easy-going game, with goal tender Tom Pelchat skating out for about a minute. 

 

The next day things got serious again and Gettysburg had their home opener at their new home rink (Skate Frederick) against York College. Freshman Tyler Ferraro started things strong with his first collegiate goal and numerous Bullets got in on the action before finishing York 6-4. Lance Tennebaum was the sole goalie of the night and saved 90% of the pucks fired his way. 

 

Two weeks later it was deja vu with Gettysburg heading up to their old stomping grounds in York to play the same team they'd just beaten: York College. Just like clockwork Gettysburg won again 6-4. Tyler Ferraro and David Shore led the way with 2 and 3 goals, respectively (with 1 more from Jimmy Barnes to finish the job). Tom Pelchat held his ground in the net with a save percentage of 88%. 

 

Halloween weekend was pretty spooky for Mount St. Mary's as they were beaten by the Bullets 17-5. David Shore led the way with 5 goals (and as many assists), Connor Shalleck followed with 3 (and as many assists), Taylor Slade had 2 (and 3 assists to go with them) and Richard Drake, Ryan Sparks, Jimmy Barnes, Jack Kolpak (who at 4 assists was always there when you needed him), Tyler Ferraro, Noah Saffan and Jonathan Rosetti each got a goal a piece. Freshman goalie Tom Barrella spent the entire game in net. 

 

To welcome in November Gettysburg had an interesting one-off; they played at Reisterstown Sportsplex as the home team against Shippensburg. Gettysburg was in a tough situation with only 6 skaters, but luckily one of them was 4 goal scoring James Miller. Tyler Ferraro put 2 in the net and Johnathan Rossetti scored a crucial 1. With 6 skaters to Shippensburg's 13, the Bullets had a tough job ahead of them and were exhausted heading into overtime, but held out valiantly. Sadly the fresher team prevailed in a shootout and Gettysburg lost 6-7, still gaining one point. Tom Pelchat and Lance Tennebaum split the goal tending for the night. 

After that frustration behind them, the Bullets took on Mount St. Mary's for the 3rd time this year. Gettysburg reeled off 7 shots before the Mount got a word in edgewise. The 2nd period slowed down a bit, but the Bullets ended like they began and finished the game on a 7 goal streak. David Shore led the way with 6 goals and Tyler Ferraro was hot on his heels with 5. Ryan Sparks got 3 in the net and Ryan Murphy, Richard Drake and Noah Saffan each had a goal of their own. Interestingly Gettysburg had all 9 skaters earn at least 1 point and goalies Tom Pelchat and Tom Barrella spent quality time in net. 

 

Gettysburg's final game of the semester looked like a tough one against untested and undefeated F&M. The Diplomats came out swinging and scored 4 goals before David Shore answered back for Gettysburg. Assisted by Ryan Sparks it proved to be the only goal of the day for the Bullets, and F&M inflicted 2 more goals in the final period. Lance Tennenbaum held down the net and saved 23 of the 29 shots sent his way. The Bullets will get another shot at F&M as they open the second semester at the Diplomats rink in Lancaster.

 

This was actually the last home game for senior and oftentimes starting goalie Tom Pelchat. Sadly he was still suffering a sore ankle from the prior week and was unable to play, but was there supporting his teammates in typical Tom fashion. We hope he (and the rest of the Bullets) will be able to end his college career with some nice playoff wins in the spring semester.

 

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