Gophers Register Resounding 19-13 Victory Over Mariners

Averett Sticks Eight Goals, Outperforms Leading Scorer in Division III

TOWSON, Md. — The leading Division III scorer in the nation heading into the weekend wasn't even the top offensive performer in this afternoon's Landmark Conference game between Goucher and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

Zach Gray supplied the Mariners with four goals, boosting his total for the season to 45, but Rory Averett (Ivyland, Pa./Council Rock North) countered with an eight-goal, two-assist effort in leading the Gophers to a resounding 19-13 victory.

Averett had four goals to his credit before the Mariners (4-8, 0-2 Landmark) got on the scoreboard for the first time on a goal by Sean Zakow midway through the first quarter. Averett added a fifth goal before the period came to a close with the Gophers (8-4, 2-0 Landmark) on top 6-3.

Goucher was leading 8-5 in the second quarter until Averett stuck the final two goals of the period, making it 10-5 in favor of the defending Landmark Conference champions after 30 minutes.

The Mariners scored the first three goals of the second half, closing to within 10-8 on a goal by Zakow with 7:36 remaining in the third quarter. But the Gophers responded with a run of five straight goals, including three in a row by Kyle Boncaro (Geneva, N.Y./Geneva), and took a 15-8 advantage into the final period.

Averett, who assisted two of Goucher's five goals in the third quarter, tallied his eighth goal 6:03 into the fourth period to put the Gophers up 18-10. The eight goals was the most by a Goucher player since Pat Tracy delivered nine goals in a 20-4 triumph over York back on March 10, 2004.

Over the course of today's game he passed Tim Asher (1996-99) and Qadir Stern (1999-2002) and took over second place in career goals at Goucher as his total now stands at 127.

Boncaro, who contributed five goals and a pair of assists to the victory, moved ahead of Stern into fifth place with 175 career points.

Zakow finished with only one fewer point than Averett today. He had five goals to go along with four assists.

In extending its winning streak against Merchant Marine to seven games to assume a 7-1 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools, Goucher held an edge in shots (54-34) and ground balls (49-34). The Mariners, however, won 18 of the 32 faceoffs.

Both starting goalkeepers reached double digits in saves. For Merchant Marine, Shawn Kane played the first three quarters and turned away 16 shots; for Goucher, Connor Mishaw (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) came out with 4:32 left to play after making 13 saves.