Gophers Get Three Cracks at Finishing Off Rangers

TOWSON, Md. — Goucher, which trailed 2-1 at the conclusion of doubles play, took a 4-2 lead in this afternoon's Landmark Conference match against Drew when Midori Fujitani (Tokyo, Japan/International School Bangkok) battled back from being down a set to defeat Vin Mahon at No. 3 singles.

That meant head coach Brendan Kincaid's Gophers needed to prevail in only one of the remaining three singles matches in order to clinch their first win over their opponent since the conference came into existence in 2007-08. The Rangers, however, came out on top in all three matches, two of them in straight sets, to gain a 5-4 victory.

No. 1 was the first of the three doubles matches to finish and the 8-3 win by Seth Hoesman (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) and David Spivey (Cockeysville, Md./The Park School) over Vin Mahon and Tommy Butschi provided the Gophers (4-10, 0-3 Landmark) with an early 1-0 advantage.

Spivey and Hoesman also accounted for Goucher's next two wins: Spivey tied the match at 2-2 when he polished off Drew's Adam Clarki 6-0, 6-1 at second singles and then Hoesman put the Gophers ahead by knocking off Butschi 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1.

Fujitani extended his winning streak in singles play to five matches by pinning a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 setback on Mahon.

After dropping the first set of his match at No. 4 singles, Goucher's Chad Resnik (Miami, Fla./Pinecrest School) rallied to win the second set before Scott Vander Veen pulled out a 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 victory.

Vander Veen's win created a 4-4 tie and left the overall match riding on the outcome at No. 6. The Rangers (2-4, 2-2 Landmark) came out on top thanks to a 6-4, 6-2 win by Nick Lantieri over John Bescoby (San Marino, Calif./Maranatha).

The Gophers are scheduled to play three more Landmark Conference matches over the next six days, the first of which is against Catholic and is set for Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the nation's capital.