Karam Leads the Way Against Lebanon Valley

ANNVILLE, PA - The Goucher College Gophers (0-4 overall) traveled to face the Flying Dutchmen of Lebanon Valley College (3-1 overall). Despite winning the fourth quarter, a dominant first and consistent offense by the Flying Dutchmen secured the 15-10 victory.

The Flying Dutchmen opened the game, winning the faceoff and two early shots, which forced Josh Steinmiller to action within the first minute. The Gophers used this save to shift the momentum in their favor, with Gianni Karam adding the first goal of the contest at the 13:02 mark. However, the Flying Dutchmen responded with three goals in the next three minutes to take an early 3-1 lead. The scoring run for Lebanon Valley was cut short with back-to-back goals from Milan Temple to bring the game even at three with 5:35 remaining in the quarter. The Flying Duthmen earned three more goals in the half, to bring the game to 6-3 at the end of the first. 

The game opened with a four-minute scoreless drought. With 11:09 on the clock, Steinmiller earns a save and then gets called for a slashing penalty, which sees William Muncy enter the contest. The Flying Dutchmen capitalize on the man-up and score their second of the quarter less than a minute later after winning the faceoff. The team turns into a defensive battle for six minutes, which sees seven total shots before Lebanon Valley breaks through once again (4:11). Karam ends the scoring run with his second of the game with 53 seconds left in the half. The Gophers trailed 4-9 at the half.

The Flying Dutchmen added to their lead in the first three minutes of the half, but the Gophers responded less than 30 seconds later with a goal from Jacob Morgan off a pass from Scott Tayman. A few minutes later, Lebanon Valley added its second of the half. Seconds later, Goucher capitalized on a turnover when Karam and Tayman teamed up to bring the score to 6-11 (8:26). The game fell into a scoreless drought, which saw 14 combined shots, until Lebanon Valley broke through with nine seconds remaining in the quarter. They took the 12-6 lead heading into the fourth.

Lebanon Valley carried its momentum into the final quarter, scoring a man-up goal in the first 30 seconds. Goucher responded once again, after winning the faceoff, with Kevin Gearhart finishing the shot off a feed from Morgan. Within the span of two minutes, Karam added two goals for Goucher, with Jack Murdaugh and Eli Jean-Jacques recording the assists. The Flying Duthmen ended the scoring run for Goucher with a goal at the 8:17 mark, before Karam added his third of the quarter, and the final score for the Gophers (6:57). The final goal came from Lebanon Valley with just under 14 minutes left in the contest, to bring the final score to 15-10.

Karam led the teams with six points, Temple and Morgan followed with two points each. Aaron Butera led the team with three groundballs, while Temple, Murdaugh, and Nick Gambone each added two. Steinmiller played 59:43 in net, recorded 20 saves, while Muncy contributed the other 17 seconds. Butera went 6-18 from the faceoff, while Mason Wolf went 3-11. 

Lebanon Valley outshot Goucher 57-34 and collected more groundballs (16-10). They led the way with clears, going 14-17, while the Gophers went 19-27.

Goucher returns to Beldon Field on Tuesday, March 3rd for a 4pm start against Shenandoah.