Gophers' Eastern Shore Struggles Persist at Salisbury

SALISBURY, Md. — Goucher head coach Brendan Kincaid has a storied history as both a coach and a player at Salisbury, and the Gophers faced off against his alma mater for a second time in his two years at the helm of the men's tennis program.

Unfortunately, Kincaid is still searching for its first match win against the Sea Gulls after Goucher suffered a 9-0 setback this afternoon at Salisbury's Indoor Tennis Center. The match was moved indoors due to rainy conditions throughout the day in southern Maryland.

John Bescoby (San Marino, Calif./Maranatha) and David Spivey (Cockeysville, Md./The Park School) came closest to collecting a point for the Gophers (1-4). Bescoby, who earned one of Goucher's two points against Washington (Md.) last Saturday, took the first set 6-3 from Michael Popielski at No. 6 singles. Popielski, though, evened the match with a 6-1 win in the second, and he clinched the match with a 10-6 victory in the super tiebreaker. Spivey, playing at No. 2 singles, forced both of his sets to tiebreakers, but ultimately fell 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-2) to Salisbury's Shanon Gunther.

The Sea Gulls (2-1) took command early in the doubles matches, dropping only five games while opening up a 3-0 lead. Spivey and Seth Hoesman (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) dropped an 8-2 decision to Daniel Albers and Eric Spangler at the top position, Bescobi and Midori Fujitani (Tokyo, Japan/International School Bangkok) fell 8-1 to Gunther and his older brother, Shane Gunther, at No. 2 doubles and Pat Murnin (Salt Lake City, Utah/East) and Chad Resnik (Miami, Fla./Pinecrest School) were defeated 8-2 by Salisbury's No. 3 team of Matthew McGaffney and Grant Hudson.

Goucher hosts its spring home opener tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. against Neumann, which will be playing in its first match this season.