Coaches Foresee Gophers as Contenders for 2016 Title

TOWSON, Md. — Two of the nine head men's tennis coaches in the Landmark Conference pick Goucher to be crowned champion in 2016 and the consensus of the group is that head coach Brendan Kincaid's squad will earn a berth in the conference playoffs for the second year in a row.

The conference released its annual preseason poll of head coaches this morning and it shows only two teams receiving first-place votes. Juniata, the reigning Landmark champion, was picked by seven coaches (coaches could not vote for their own team) to repeat in 2016. The Eagles earned a total of 78 points in the preseason balloting.

Goucher finished second in the preseason poll with 68 points. The Gophers are scheduled to host the Eagles in a Landmark Conference match on April 10.

Moravian (51 points) and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (37) filled the next two positions in the poll.

The top four teams in the standings at the concludion of the regular season advance to a postseason tournament that determines the Landmark champion and also its automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championships.

"If we play up to our potential, this is the most talented Goucher team at the top of the lineup and in terms of depth since the formation of the Landmark Conference," Kincaid commented after seeing the results of the poll. "But second place is not what we're shooting for this season. We think we can do better than that."

The Gophers, who won all three of the matches they played in the fall, return to action on February 27 when they travel to face Salisbury and Maryland-Eastern Shore.