Gophers Battle, But Eagles Use Late Surge to Secure Win

HUNTINGDON, PA - The Goucher College Gophers (6-8 overall, 2-4 conference) traveled to face the Eagles of Juniata College (3-10 overall, 2-4 conference) on Saturday afternoon. A late surge from the Eagles led them to the 20-13 victory.

The Eagles opened the scoring of the game after a caused turnover, coming at the 13:50 mark. Dakhai Handy won the following draw control, but Juniata was able to win the ball back, forcing Kennedy Harper to action (11:28). A minute later, Juniata added another goal off a free position attempt. The Gophers countered with a man-up goal 19 seconds later from Emma Nelson, assisted by Tatiana Emeruwa. Juniata added the next goal off the following draw (8:57) to give them a 3-1 lead. Camden West won the ball back for the Gophers off a caused turnover, leading to a goal from Emeruwa, to bring them within one. Katie Bloom won the draw control, putting the Gophers' offense to action. West found the back of the net, off a pass from Wrenn Harney, to tie the game at three. Over the next three minutes, Harper added three saves to hold the Eagles at bay. Angelena Holmes caused a turnover and scooped up a ground ball to lead to a man-up free position goal for Bloom (3:41). Juniata closed out the quarter with a goal in the last minute to tie the game at four.

Juniata started the second quarter with three back-to-back goals in a 26-second span. The Eagles quickly added another just over two minutes later, to give them an 8-4 lead over the Gophers. After five minutes of neutral gameplay, which only featured two shots, Bloom answered with a goal. But the Eagles offense retaliated with a free position goal to build their lead back to four. The Eagles continued their offensive momentum, scoring their tenth goal of the game (3:37). Holmes won the following draw control to put the Gophers in possession. This led to a goal from Amaya Locke off a pass from Nelson (2:42). The Gophers continued to find their momentum, but a Juniata turnover caused by DJ Howell led to a man-up goal from Bloom, assisted by Harney. The Eagles closed out the half, scoring with less than 30 seconds on the clock, to hold the 11-7 advantage at halftime.

Harney secured the first goal of the half, off a man-up opportunity, bringing the Gophers within three. The Eagles continued to press offensively, adding a goal just over two minutes later. Handy won the next draw control, for Emeruwa to add another to the scoreboard. The Gophers offensive continued, with another goal from West, bringing them within two (8:46). Harper stopped a free position attempt, and Goucher capitalized on a man-up goal for Nelson, assisted by Harney. Juniata closed the quarter scoring two goals in the last three minutes, bringing the score to 14-11.

The Eagles started the quarter with a free position goal in the first 20 seconds. After five minutes of gameplay, which saw two shots on goal, Juniata scored off the man-up opportunity. The Eagles started to pull away by scoring three goals within a minute, giving them a 19-11 lead with five minutes remaining in the game. Two minutes later, Harney found the back of the net to add another goal for the Gophers. Juniata quickly won the draw control and stormed down the field to score. Bloom and Harney teamed up for the Gophers' last goal of the game at the 1:06 mark. The Eagles pulled away in the fourth to give them a 20-13 win.

Harney led the team with six points, off two goals and four assists. Bloom followed closely behind with four points off four goals. Bloom also led with four groundballs and two caused turnovers. Seven other Gophers added a caused turnover for the team's total of nine. Holmes led the defense with three groundballs. Harper added 60 minutes in net, recording 13 saves on 33 shots.

Juniata outshot Goucher 47-23, and went 7-11 off free position attempts, while the Gophers went 1-2. The Eagles grabbed more groundballs (29-16), and went 21-23 on clears, while the Gophers went 16-24.

The Gophers return to action as they travel to face Moravian on Wednesday, April 15^th for a 6pm match-up. The return home on Saturday, April 18^th for a 1pm draw against Elizabethtown. The team is scheduled to celebrate their seniors prior to the start of the contest.