Goucher Caps Senior Day with Conference Win

BALTIMORE, MD - The Goucher College Gophers (6-8 overall, 3-3 conference) hosted the Eagles of Juniata College (1-12 overall, 0-6 conference). After celebrating senior day, the Gophers dominated with a 19-2 victory. 

Goucher's offense opened early, winning the ball back after Jack Murdaugh caused a turnover, which led to the first goal of the contest from Milan Temple (13:24). The Gophers offense surged from there, with Jacob Morgan adding the second goal less than three minutes later, and then assisting the goal from Kevin Gearhart following the won faceoff. Aaron Butera grabbed the ball for the Gophers off the faceoff, which led to the goal from Scott Tayman with 9:38 on the clock. Goucher's offense continued, with Gianni Karam and James Dean adding back-to-back goals, both assisted by Morgan. The final goal of the opening quarter came from Temple, off a feed from Morgan. With this assist, Morgan reached his 300th career point. Despite a combined five shots to end the quarter, the score remained 7-0 heading into the second.

The Gophers capitalized on an early penalty from the Eagles, with Karam adding his second off a pass from Tayman. Juniata won the following faceoff, leading to a shot on target, forcing Josh Steinmiller to make his first save of the game (12:37). The play remained neutral for the next six minutes, with the teams recording eight shots, and Cole Smith adding a caused turnover, before Morgan broke the scoring drought for a man-up goal. Steinmiller added two more saves to end the quarter, but no one else was able to break through. The Gophers led 9-0 at halftime. 

Goucher carried their offensive momentum into the second half, with Karam scoring less than a minute in after Butera won the opening faceoff. However, Juniata was able to break through with 13:15 on the clock, adding their first of the game. Juniata continued to add pressure, but Steinmiller held them at one. The Gophers flurry of shots was capped with a goal from Eli Jean-Jacques off a pass from Morgan. After three minutes, the Gophers added their next goal from Tayman, with Jean-Jacques recording the assist. The Eagles offense rallied, recording four shots back-to-back, but Steinmiller stopped the three on target. Murdaugh won the ball back for the Gophers, which quickly led to a finish from Morgan. Juniata won the faceoff, but Ginigeme Anyaoha gave the Gophers the ball back after causing a turnover. This led to the final goal of the quarter from Gearhart. Goucher led 14-1 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

James Czarnaski entered the goal to begin the final quarter of the Gophers, and Juniata added the first three shots, all off target, until Czarnaski was forced into action and added back-to-back saves with just under 12 minutes on the clock. Tayman added a man-up goal shortly after, bringing the Gophers to 15. Tucker Dashiell won the ball back from the Eagles after they won the faceoff, but Juniata quickly retaliated, earning the ball back and storming down the field to add their second and final goal of the game (9:08). Morgan and Temple teamed up a minute later for the next goal. The teams added three shots over the next two minutes, when Ruddy Sampson broke through for his first goal at Goucher. Following this goal, William Muncy entered the net for the final five minutes of the contest. With just over four minutes on the clock, Karam picked off a pass for a clear attempt from the Eagles and beat the goalie as he retreated. Muncy recorded his first saves of the game on back-to-back shots, and then added two more as the Eagles' offense rallied. However, the Gophers won the ball back, allowing Sampson to add his second, off a pass from Tayman, to bring Goucher to a 19-2 win.

Morgan led the team with 10 points off four goals and six assists. Karam and Tayman followed behind with five each. Morgan also led the team with five caused turnovers and four groundballs, while Nick Gambone led the defense with three caused turnovers. Dashiell and Karam followed with three groundballs. Steinmiller was awarded the win, added 45 minutes in net with 11 saves off 12 shots, Czarnaski added 9:46 with three saves off four shots, and Muncy rounded out the goalies with 5:14 in net, and four saves. The Gophers went 8-23 on faceoffs, with Butera winning all eight, and Mason Wolf going 0-1.

The Gophers held the statistical advantage, outshooting the Eagles 62-35 and collecting more groundballs (34-27). Goucher went 3-6 on the man-advantage, while Juniata went 0-1. On clears, Goucher went 30-32, while Juniata went 20-28. 

Goucher is back in action against Moravian on Wednesday, April 15th, for a 4pm game. This marks their final home game of the regular season.