Nelson Leads the Gophers Against the Marlins

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA - The Goucher College Gophers (3-4 overall) traveled to face the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan University (5-3 overall) on Tuesday afternoon. A second-quarter surge by the Marlins led them to the 15-9 victory.

After winning the draw control, Virginia Wesleyan took an early lead, scoring 11 seconds into the game. The Gophers countered quickly with multiple shots before Imani Ward finished a pass from Amaya Locke to bring the game even(11:58). Goucher scored one minute later, following a turnover, with a goal from Emma Nelson off a pass from Wrenn Harney. The Marlins responded, capitalizing on a free position attempt 30 seconds later to tie the game up at two apiece. After five minutes of gameplay, Nelson regained the lead for the Gophers with her second goal of the game, assisted by Tatiana Emeruwa (5:56). Goucher continued their offensive momentum, with a goal coming from Locke, off a pass from Dayana Flores Bermudez to give them the 4-2 lead. 

The Marlins responded quickly in the second quarter, scoring back-to-back goals in the first minute, tying Goucher, 4-4. The Gophers goalkeeper, Kennedy Harper, came up strong with a save to swing the momentum in favor of Goucher. After the good clear from the Gophers, Nelson capitalized on the man-up advantage and scored off a free position attempt (6:17). After three minutes of game play, the Marlins tied the game up once again, with just over three minutes remaining in the half. The teams went into halftime tied at five.

Virginia Wesleyan similarly opened the second half to the previous quarters, finishing a shot just over a minute into the contest to give them the lead. Katie Bloom gained possession back for the Gophers from a caused turnover, picked up by Angelena Holmes. This gave Locke the chance to finish a feed from Nelson. The Marlins responded with the next three goals, the final coming at 5:57 off a free position shot, to give them the 9-6 lead. Less than a minute later, Nelson finished a free position shot once again, for her fourth of the contest. Virginia Wesleyan scored the final goal of the quarter with 2:24 left on the clock, giving the Marlins a 10-7 lead.

The final quarter opened with a free position shot from the Marlins, giving them a four-goal advantage (12:55). They added to their lead a minute later to extend the advantage. Camden West finished back-to-back shots for Goucher, off passes from Harney and Bloom to cut the Gophers' deficit to three with just under five minutes left to play. Three goals in three minutes for the Marlins solidified their lead, pushing them to a 15-9 victory over Goucher. 

Nelson led the team with five points from four goals and one assist. Locke followed closely behind with three, from two goals and an assist. Maura Poulton led the team defensively with three caused turnovers. Harper added 60 minutes in net and seven saves. 

The teams were even at 24 shots each, while the Marlins held the advantage with 23 groundballs compared to the Gophers 18. The Gophers went 2-3 on the free position shot, while the Marlins went 5-9. Virginia Wesleyan earned more draw controls (17-10).

The Gophers are back in action against Scranton on Saturday, March 21st. This has been moved to a home game. The women will host on Beldon at 4pm.