Mercer Island High School senior goaltender Benji Rothenberg has committed to play collegiate lacrosse at NCAA Division III Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

When Rothenberg joins Gettysburg as freshman for the 2014-15 school year he is expected to be just one of two West Coast players on the highly competitive Bullets roster.

“Gettysburg has a great academic reputation and lacrosse tradition,” said Rothenberg who narrowed an initial list of 30 NCAA colleges and universities down to four finalists before accepting an offer and committing to the historic Pennsylvania school.  “My coaches and teammates (at Mercer Island) have prepared me well.  I’m looking forward to working hard to prove that I can compete to be a starting NCAA goaltender.”

At Mercer Island, Rothenberg compiled a .540 save percentage and a 5.00 goals against average as a junior, helping lead the Washington state runner-up Islanders to a 20-4-0 record last spring.

The Gettysburg College men’s lacrosse program has established a winning tradition over the past quarter-century amassing 400 victories and 21 bids to the NCAA Division III Tournament. In 2013, Gettysburg advanced to the Centennial Conference Tournament and finished the season 9-7 overall and 5-3 in conference play.

Rothenberg is among three Mercer Island senior lacrosse players to commit to play for NCAA schools.  Defender Chase York has committed to NCAA Div. I Loyola of Maryland and midfielder Peter Mahony committed to Yale, both NCAA Division I lacrosse schools.

With Native American origins, lacrosse is one of the oldest organized sports on the continent and today is considered the fastest growing sport in America.  In Washington state, some 4,000 student-athletes attending over 200 high schools play prep lacrosse.