SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The No. 4 Swarthmore College men's lacrosse team put up a valiant effort to come back against Gettysburg College but the Garnet were unable to climb out of a 4-0 hole, falling to the Bullets, 13-12, in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference Tournament on Thursday night.
 
Fifth-seeded Gettysburg advances to the conference title game at second-seeded Dickinson College while Swarthmore will await a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Bullets got off to a strong start, scoring the first four goals of the night in the opening seven minutes of action. The Garnet fought back and cut the deficit to one at halftime, but Gettysburg netted six of the first eight tallies in the second half to build a five-goal cushion (12-7) with 5:07 to play. Swarthmore rallied again to get within one (13-12) with just 33 seconds to go but the Bullets held on for the victory.
 
Michael Hardiman led the Garnet with four goals and Clay Almgren chipped in with a goal and three assists. Rex Mabbs tallied one goal and two assists while Von Mabbs scored twice. Jack McHenry went 17-for-22 on face-offs and collected a team-high eight ground balls. Drew Tyson made eight saves in the cage.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Garnet won the opening draw and had the first possession of the game but came up empty. Gettysburg broke the ice at the 13:23 mark then won the next three face-offs and built a 4-0 lead with 8:22 remaining in the first quarter.
 
- Hardiman got Swarthmore on the board at the 7:18 mark but the Garnet were held off the scoresheet for the remainder of the period. The Bullets added another goal with just 25 seconds to go to take a 5-1 advantage into the second.
 
- Swarthmore put together a strong second quarter to close the gap to one, racking up 13 shots and going 6-for-6 on clear attempts. Almgren got the scoring started just 58 seconds into the frame. After Gettysburg found the back of the net, the Garnet strung together goals by Carter Strauch, Von Mabbs, and Nolan Ohrman to make it 6-5 at the break.
 
- The Bullets stalled Swarthmore's momentum in the third quarter, scoring three in a row to regain a four-goal cushion (9-5) with 5:13 on the clock. Hardiman ended the stanza with back-to-back markers to cut the Garnet deficit to two (9-7) entering the fourth.
 
- Gettysburg again recorded three unanswered in the final period to up the margin to five (12-7) with 5:07 to play. Ryder Maston hit the back of the net at 4:24 then Hardiman registered his fourth at the 3:35 mark to make it a three-goal game (12-9).
 
- Rex Mabbs got Swarthmore within two (12-10) with 2:19 remaining. However, the Bullets capitalized on a 10-man ride by the Garnet, firing a shot into a vacated net to push the lead back to three with 1:18 to go.
 
- Swarthmore won the ensuing face-off and Jackson Brosgol evaded the defense to fire in a goal with 53 seconds left. McHenry won the next draw again and Von Mabbs beat the goalkeeper to get the Garnet within one (13-12) with 33 seconds to play. Swarthmore came up with the win on the face-off but a shot by Almgren was stopped by the goalie. The Garnet got the ball back but a desperation shot with just a second to go was blocked in front of the cage.
 
GARNET LEADERS
Points: Hardiman, Almgren 4
Goals: Hardiman 4
Assists: Almgren 3
Ground Balls: McHenry 8
Caused Turnovers: Five players 1
Face-off Wins: McHenry 17
Saves: Tyson 8
 
UP NEXT
Swarthmore (14-2) will be tuned into the NCAA Tournament selection show on Sunday at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com.