Goucher Men's Lacrosse Rallies For A 12-8 Win Against McDaniel

WESTMINSTER, Md. – Rashaan Evans (Salisbury, Md./Parkside) keyed a decisive 6-0 run with two goals and an assist to power Goucher College past McDaniel College 12-8 in non-conference men's lacrosse action on Wednesday.

Evans scored back-to-back goals in in a span of 36 seconds to help the Gophers erase a 4-1 first quarter deficit and tie the game at 5. The sophomore then connected with fellow sophomore Jared Halverson (Durham, N.C./CE Jordan) at 4:22 to give Goucher the lead for good as the Gophers outscored the Green Terror 11-4 in the final three quarters.

Evans finished with two goals and a career-high three assists for a career-best five points. He notched his fourth-multigoal performance of his career and second tilt with two or more assists.

Matt Woodson (Timonium, Md./McDonough) fueled the Baltimore program with three goals and two assists. It was the senior's second-straight multigoal game and 13th-multigoal performance of his career. Woodson now has four career hat tricks and seven games with at least five points.

Halverson, Andrew Sade (Lewisberry, Pa./Northern York) and Ben Smith (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) each added two tallies apiece while Jared Heath (Windham, N.H./New Hampton) registered a goal and an assist. It was the second career two-goal game for both Halverson and Smith while it was Sade's 14th career game with two tallies.

Nick Patterson (East Lansing, Mich./Damomte Ranch) came up big in the faceoff circle, winning 13 of 24 faceoffs for the Gophers and earned a team-high six ground balls while Justin Lugo (Davie, Fla./Saint Andrew's School) made 13 saves in the winning effort.

Head coach Brian Kelly said that playing games against the like of Gettysburg College and Randolph-Macon College would be beneficial for this team and the lessons learned from the first two games surely did show for the team especially in the final three quarters.

Trailing 4-1 after the first quarter, Goucher scored five times in the second quarter to take a 6-4 lead at the break.

Woodson started the run when he picked up a loose ball in front of the net and found the back of the net at 14:11. Evans then scored the next two tallies unassisted at 7:11 and again at 6:35 to tie the game at 4. Evans then set up the Gophers next goal when he fed Halverson with 4:22 left in the half to give the Gophers the lead they would not relinquish at 5-4 while Smith scored unassisted with seven seconds left to give the visitors a two-goal lead at the break and put an exclaimation point on the five-goal second quarter.

The two teams each scored three times in the third quarter for Goucher to maintain its two-score margin at 9-7. Sade handed the Gophers a 7-4 edge off a Woodson feed 16 seconds into the frame.

After a Green Terror tally, Woodson answered with a transition goal off a pass from Eric Conway, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Cristo Rey Jesuit) at 7:47 to restore a three-goal margin. McDaniel then scored the next two markers to cut the margin to 8-7 with 1:34 left in the quarter. Evans then notched his fourth point of the afternoon when he connected with Smith with 53 seconds left to go into the final quarter with a two-marker edge.

Sade restored a three-goal lead to start the fourth quarter off a pass from Sam Gravel (Rockville, Md./St. Andrews Episcopal School) with 12:21 left. Heath then skirted straight through the defense toward the goal and found a wide open Woodson right in front of the goal and he twinkled the twine for an 11-7 lead with 9:25 remaining.  

The Green Terror momentarily halted the Gophers run with a tally at the seven-minute mark, but Halverson found the back of the net on another transition score off a pass from Evans with 5:27 left to seal the 12-8 win..

The Green Terror scored the first two goals of the game to take an early 2-0 lead. Woodson helped Goucher get on the scoreboard when he fed Heath with 8:27 left in the first frame. McDaniel then scored the next two goals to end the first quarter with a 4-1 lead. The Gophers then ended the game by scoring 11 of the final 15 goals to earn its first win of the year.

Kyle Ramos (Silver Spring, Md./Bethesda Chevy Chase) paced Goucher with three ground balls and three caused turnovers while Gravel added two ground balls and three caused turnovers. Steven Mancha (Salisbury, Md./Parkside) registered four ground balls and two caused turnovers while Justin Arriaga (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) chipped in two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Conway and Gravel both notched their first collegiate point with their assists in the second half.

Goucher returns to action on Saturday at Beldon Field against Lebanon Valley College. Game time is 1 p.m.