Goucher Falls to Elizabethtown on the Road

ELIZABETHTOWN, PA - The Goucher College Gophers (7-9 overall, 4-4 overall) traveled to face the Blue Jays of Elizabethtown (7-9 overall, 6-2 conference) on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays dominant second quarter led them to the 24-5 win.

The Gophers offense began the contest, with Milan Temple and Jack Murdaugh adding back-to-back shots in the first two minutes. Josh Steinmiller was called to action early, recording two saves in just over two minutes. Goucher rallied with three shots over less than a minute, but the Blue Jays were the first to break through at the 7:59 mark. Elizabethtown doubled its score less than two minutes later. The Blue Jays remained on the attack, recording seven shots before adding their third with 3:24 on the clock. Goucher broke through with less than a minute in the quarter, with a goal from Gianni Karam. But Elizabethtown was the final team to score, bringing the score to 4-1 at the end of the first.

The Blue Jays' offense carried the momentum into the second, recording three goals in just over a minute. Steinmiller added another save before Elizabethtown added two more to give them the 9-1 lead with 7:27 left in the half. Jacob Morgan broke the Gophers' scoreless drought off a feed from Scott Tayman (5:51), but the Blue Jays responded off the following faceoff. With 3:40 on the clock, Elizabethtown notched their 11th, but Karam rallied off the won faceoff from Mason Wolf to put Goucher at three. The Blue Jays ended the half with three more goals over a minute and a half, bringing the score to 14-3.

James Czarnaski entered in the net for the Gophers to begin the second half, and the first series of shots from the Blue Jays did not break through. Karam completed the hat-trick off a pass from Eli Jean-Jacques just over a minute into the quarter, for the first goal of the half. Elizabethtown added two goals in a minute and a half, to put them up 17-4 with 7:30 on the clock. Goucher's defense efforts increased with James Dean and Tallinn Loberg adding a caused turnover. However, the Blue Jays were still able to find the back of the net two more times to close out the quarter. 

Goucher carried over the possession to open the final quarter, but the Elizabethtown defense won the ball back. Czarnaski was called to action early, recording a save less than two minutes in, before the Blue Jays added another goal. Nick Campagnari came up big for the Gophers, tallying two caused turnovers over the four minutes of neutral play. The second led to the Gophers' final goal from Jean-Jacques off a pass from Morgan (8:16). After three minutes of play, Elizabethtown added another to the board. Czarnaski recorded another save before William Muncy entered as goalie (3:30). The Blue Jays ended the contest, adding three more goals, bringing the final score to 24-5.

Karam led the team with three points off three goals while Jean-Jacques and Morgan each added two. Campagnari led the defensive efforts with three caused turnovers, while Jack Schiavone led with five groundballs. The faceoff team went 8-30, with Aaron Butera going 2-19, Wolf adding 5-7, and Sean Phillips going 1-4. Steinmiller added 30 minutes in net with nine saves, while Czarnaski contributed 26:30 with eight saves, and Muncy rounded out the final 3:30. 

Elizabethtown held the statistical advantage, outshooting the Gophers 70-29, and grabbing 48 groundballs compared to the Gophers 25. They also went 24-25 on clears, while Goucher went 17-29.

The Gophers final competition of the regular season is on Wednesday, April 22nd at Susquehanna, set to begin at 4pm.