Jewell's Double-OT Winner Lifts Gophers Over Eagles

TOWSON, Md. — Earlier this season, Goucher ended a long Landmark losing streak with a thrilling overtime win at Moravian. This afternoon, the Gophers were able to share that excitement with their home fans, as Emily Jewell (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) fired in a double-overtime game-winner to lift Goucher to a 1-0 victory over Juniata.

Jewell's strike came 1:48 into double overtime, and it gave the Gophers (9-6, 2-4 Landmark) their first ever win over the Eagles (11-4, 4-2 Landmark) in eight tries. It also clinched Goucher's first winning season in field hockey since 1995.

"Having a freshman and a sophomore involved in the final scoring play really speaks volumes to how we've continued to grow as a program," head coach Megan Williams said. "We've made strides every year that I've been here, but this season we've really started to reap the rewards of that progress. It makes me so happy to have the players be able to experience this."

The Gophers earned only six penalty corners compared to 12 for Juniata, but the last of those corners led to the victory. Jewell sent the corner out to Lizzie Barminski (Ventura, Calif./Buena), who passed it right back to the freshman defender. After a few attempted passes towards the center were blocked, Jewell maneuvered around the Eagle defensemen and stuffed a shot into the lower right corner.

The goal (video below) was her third of the season, and it sealed Goucher's first conference win at home since a 2-1 victory over Moravian on Oct. 6, 2007.

Defense ruled a majority of today's contest. Juniata held a 7-3 shots advantage in the first half. Five of those shots were directed on goal, but four were stopped by Demie Huffman (Granville, Ohio/Granville) and another was blocked away by defender Danielle Hallacker (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Twp.).

The Eagles continued to increase their lead in shots after the intermission, generating four of the five total shots in the second half and six of the eight attempts in the first overtime session. The Gopher defense held strong, however, setting up Jewell's game-winning heroics which made a winner out of seniors Justine Ruhlin (Cornish, Maine/Sacopee Valley), Emily Gill (White Hall, Md./North Harford) and Erica Shellem (Albany, Calif./The College Preparatory School) in their last match at Beldon Field.

"It's such a fitting last home game for our three seniors who have given so much to the team and made such an impact on our program," Williams said. "I couldn't have asked for a better senior game for them."

Juniata entered today's contest as the sixth-ranked team in the South Atlantic region, and the Eagles had won nine of their previous 10 matches before today's defeat.

Goucher now has two Landmark victories in a season for the first time since the conference's inaugural season in 2007. The Gophers will look to up that total to three in their season finale at Susquehanna (6-10, 1-5 Landmark) next Saturday.