2012-13 Season Recap
A determined group of individuals. From the practices players through the coaching staff, each member of the 2012-13 team showed their grit and dedication all season long. The season started well for the team as the selection of the team itself had a great blend of upper classmen and good new talent. Newly elected senior captains, Chris Fulenwider, Ryan Anderson, and Niall Hines hoped to lead this team back to the playoffs after missing the playoffs in the previous season by a mere two points. They would be joined by sophomore scoring threat Mike Berestecky and junior Hunter Yale. Where Gettysburg really gained ground was along the blue line. Junior Garrett Flasinski and sophomore Matt Kuhl would be joined by a couple of talented freshmen to really boost the Bullet's defense. Rounding out the roster was between the pipes as sophomores Jon Lipshutz and Sam Shockley would be given split starting duties but also joined by Gettysburg's first ever third goaltender, Ramiz Chaudhary.
The Bullets exploded out of the gate this year with a 12-1-0 record in those first ten games, including two dramatic victories in overtime against TCNJ and Millersville. It wasn't until a trip down south when Gettysburg first got a taste of losing. In the first game of the trip, Gettysburg lost to nationally ranked Virginia Tech before heading to an ACC tournament hosted by UNC. Gettysburg won their first game of the tournament against Elon and had to turn around hours later to take on Duke. Gettysburg ran out of steam and fell to Duke in a shootout. The final day of the tournament Gettysburg lost to host UNC showing definite signs of fatigue. The winter break couldn't have come at a better time so that the team could get a well deserved rest.
Unfortunately, after the break, Gburg seemed to lose their stride from the first part of the year as they dropped an early contest to Seton Hall for their first loss in conference play. Although a great deal of the scoring came from Hines and Berestecky, new faces were beginning to shine offensively with first year player, sophomore, Bobby MacDonald adding goals as well as feisty freshman Jack Stanton. But the blue line was contributing just as much offensively as they were defensively. Led in scoring among defensemen was Kuhl with freshman Brad Bourne and young leaders began to emerge off the ice in freshman Eric Miller, and Josh Pettengill. However, heading in to the playoffs the Bullets had a string of bad games losing three in a row to Bucknell, Kutztown, and Millersville.
This was not how Gettysburg wanted to enter the playoffs but they still were able to get in, despite losing the top spot and falling all the way to fourth. Their opening opponent for the playoffs would be playoff host Rutgers. Gettysburg tied Rutgers earlier this year and would have a challenge playing in front of their home crowd, despite Gettysburg being the home team. But as they had done at the beginning of the season Gettysburg dug down and pulled out the victory 5-4. They would next move on to face Millersville. Despite jumping out to a two goal lead, Gettysburg surrendered the lead and fell 5-4 to Millersville ending their season one game short. Millersville must have used all of their energy on coming back against Gettysburg as they got dismantled by Kutztown 8-0.
Even though the season did not end the way the team hoped, they had a great deal to be proud of with the continuing progression of the Gettysburg Hockey program. The end of the season accolades including the selection of the conference all stars and Gettysburg had four nominated in Hines, Anderson, Yale, Berestecky, Flasinski and Kuhl. For the all star tournament only Hines and Kuhl were able to attend and the team won four out of their five games. One sad note at the end of the season was that coach Esser and coach Rogusky announced they would be resigning their positions behind the bench. But the foundation for the next coaching staff is there and it looks like the future is bright for Gettysburg Hockey.
Overall Record: 17-8-1-1
Conference Record: 14-5-1