Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/24/09
Cornell defenders Matt Moyer (Chadds Ford, Tower Hill, DE) and John Decker (Haverford School) and Syracuse midfielder Scott Kahoe (Radnor) have reached the NCAA Division I championship game.
Meanwhile, Gettysburg senior midfield standout Tom O’Donnell (La Salle) and his Bullets will take on SUNY Cortland in the NCAA Division III final today at noon at Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.
In Division I semifinals Saturday at Foxborough, Cornell (13-3) stunned top-seeded Virginia, 15-6, after taking an 8-2 halftime lead. Moyer, a first-team All-American pick, had two groundballs and one caused turnover in Saturday’s win. Decker played a reserve role.
Kahoe had an assist and two groundballs for the second-seeded Orangemen (15-2) as they whipped Duke, 15-7. Defending champion Syracuse led 8-4 at halftime and poured it on in the second half.
Syracuse and Cornell will meet for the national crown Monday at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
For the third time in school history, Gettysburg will compete for a national championship. The Division III championship game will be televised live on CBS College Sports Network.
The Bullets last competed in the national championship game in 2002, the second year in a row Gettysburg advanced to the final. Gettysburg lost 15-10 to Middlebury in their inaugural title game appearance in 2001 and fell to Middlebury 14-9 in 2002.
Sunday’s game will be a rematch of a game played between Gettysburg (16-3) and Cortland (18-2) earlier this season in on Long Island, where the Red Dragons prevailed 14-8.
O’Donnell scored once in the semifinal win and has 18 goals and 16 assists this year. He was a first-team All-Centennial Conference pick in leading the Bullets to the crown.
A Bullets victory would mark a number of firsts and milestones in both program and school history. It would not only give the team its first national title, but it would also be the first NCAA national championship at Gettysburg and the first national title for any male sport at the College. A victory would give Gettysburg its second national title and first since the field hockey team won the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division IIII Championship in 1980.
In addition, the Bullets can break the program record for longest winning streak, as a win would extend it to 15. Gettysburg can also tie the single-season school record for wins with a victory.
Gettysburg reached the NCAA championship game by virtue of their 12-7 win at No. 1 Stevenson University in the semifinals last Sunday. The win was Gettysburg’s second victory over a top-ranked opponent on the road this season, as the Bullets also knocked off No. 1 Salisbury on March 28.
