Second Half Surge From Gophers Takes Down Shock

TAKOMA PARK, MD - The Goucher College Gophers (5-2-3 overall; 1-0-0 conference) traveled to face the Shock of Washington Adventist University (2-5-1 overall; 0-0-0 conference) Tuesday afternoon. A full team effort secured the 4-2 win for the Gophers. 

Ale Sternini was called to action early, with Washington Adventist recording the first shot, just 3:23 into the contest. However, Goucher responded with a shot from Bryan Machado just nine seconds later. Minutes later, the Gopher's offensive efforts paid off, with Jonathan Adima finding the back of the net, for the 1-0 lead (7:08).

Washington Adventist attack came back after this, to rattle off a shot, forcing Sternini to action. Following a corner kick, the Shock tied the game at the 12:26 mark. The Gophers offense came to life again, connecting four shots that required the WAU goalkeeper to make saves. Despite the offensive efforts, Washington Adventist used a quick change of posession to claim the lead over the Gophers.

The lead for the Shock lasted one minute and ten seconds, before Andres Aristimuno finished a penalty kick to bring the game tied 2-2. The remainder of the half belonged to Goucher, recording all six shots in the final 20 minutes.

The second half started similar to the first, with the Gophers scoring an early goal to claim the lead. At 2:45, Elliot Bezdek beat the goalkeeper, off a pass from Machado to bring the Gophers up 3-2. After this goal, Goucher rallied with two corners and three shots in the first six minutes of the competition. After a lull in action, Drew Gentile recorded two shots before finishing his third straight shot, with an assist from D'Angelo Reyes (76:45). The final shot of the competition came from Goucher with five and a half minutes left to play.

The Gophers outshot the Shock 25-9, and earned six corners, compared to the Shock's two. Sternini added 90 minutes in net, and collected five saves. Three separate Gophers led with four shots, each with three of those on goal.

Goucher is back in action on October 4th, for Blue and Gold weekend, where they will continue conference play against Scranton for a 3:30 kickoff. This is the second game of a Beldon field doubleheader.