Gophers Bow to Sea Gulls, Slip to .500

Gophers Bow to Sea Gulls, Slip to .500

April 20, 2007 

TOWSON, MD — Goucher took a 1-0 lead over Salisbury just :36 into today's contest, added two more goals to build its advantage to 3-0 and stayed ahead for more than 11 minutes. But the nationally ranked Sea Gulls reeled off eight unanswered goals at one point in the first half and strung together nine consecutive goals over a span of 12:46 in the second half on the way to a 23-9 Capital Athletic Conference victory.

Kate Knitter (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge), Marlo Tersigni (Leominster, MA/Lawrence Academy) and Whitney Groseclose (Boyce, VA/Mercersburg Academy) accounted for the three goals the Gophers (7-7, 4-3 CAC) put on the scoreboard before Salisbury tallied its first goal 5:30 into the contest. The Sea Gulls (15-1, 7-0 CAC) caught the Gophers at 3-3 on a goal by Robyn Bishop with 18:20 remaining in the first half.

Goucher fell behind 5-3 before back-to-back goals by Knitter and Emily Blatter (Lexington, VA/Rockbridge County) created a 5-5 deadlock midway through the period. Over the final 11:04 of the first half, however, the Sea Gulls, who are No. 2 in the latest IWLCA Division III national rankings and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming CAC championship tournament, scored eight times to assume a 13-5 advantage.

The Gophers got as close as 14-8 in the second half before Salisbury went on a 9-0 run to enlarge their lead to 23-8 with 7:10 left to play.

Knitter supplied the Gophers with four goals; Stephanie Shores did the same thing for Salisbury. Sue Ackerman scored only one time for the Sea Gulls, but she was also awarded a total of six assists.