Gophers Stop Rally, Emerge with 8-6 Win

Gophers Stop Rally, Emerge with 8-6 Win

March 15, 2008

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - With Goucher's four-goal lead after three periods reduced to 7-6 because Virginia Wesleyan tallied three unanswered goals in the opening 8:15 of the fourth quarter, the Gophers needed to do something immediately to stop the rally.

The first thing was to score a goal to end the Marlins' run and that was accomplished by Dave Duff (Westwood, MA/Suffield Academy). His unassisted goal with 5:30 remaining put head coach Kyle Hannan's squad up 8-6.

The rest was left to the defense. The Marlins (4-3), who came in averaging nearly 14 goals per game, were limited to three shots over the final 6:45 and all three were turned away by junior goalkeeper Austin Main (Berlin, MD/Stephen Decatur) as the Gophers (4-1) were able to celebrate a well-deserved 8-6 victory.

Main's three stops in the fourth period raised his season-high total for the game to 18. Primarily through the efforts of junior defenseman Max Walters (Rocky River, OH/St. Ignatius), Jordan Kenney, Virginia Wesleyan's leading scorer (27 goals through six games) didn't have a goal or an assist.

Alan Tiet (Aurora, CO/Smoky Hill) and Brian Hoge (Crofton, MD/Arundel) both contributed three goals to the victory. Tiet notched all three of his goals in the first half, which ended with Goucher leading 5-3. The third quarter remained scoreless until Hoge broke through the score twice in the final 1:34, providing the Gophers with a 7-3 advantage heading into the final period.

Sam Fitzpatrick (Littleton, CO/Arapahoe) was awarded assists on four of Goucher's eight goals.