Gophers Keep Pace Thanks to Dramatic OT Victory

Mishaw Makes 12 Saves in 50th Consecutive Start in Goal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the same one-minute extra-man opportunity on which Goucher allowed Catholic to tally a man-down goal that created a 10-10 tie in the closing seconds of regulation, Sam Morgan (Wilmot, N.H./Kearsarge Regional) scored 42 seconds into overtime to provide the Gophers with a dramatic 11-10 victory over the Cardinals.

The win allowed head coach Brian Kelly's squad to keep pace with Scranton atop the Landmark Conference. The Gophers and Royals share first place with identical 4-0 records and will go head-to-head a week from today with the No. 1 seed in the Landmark playoffs riding on the outcome.

The Gophers (6-7, 4-0 Landmark), who never trailed in today's contest, led 4-1 at the end of the first quarter with Max Roach (Austin, Texas/Austin) contributing two of the goals and Pierce Ingram (Austin, Texas/Westwood) and Dylan Zook (Purcellville, Va./Loudoun Valley) one apiece.

Just 16 seconds after the Cardinals (5-8, 0-3 Landmark) had closed to within 4-3 in the second period, Ingram stuck his second goal of the contest to restore Goucher's cushion to two. An unassisted goal by Owen Demmerly (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) put the Gophers up 6-3 and closed out the scoring in the first half.

Four of the five goals that were scored in the third quarter belonged to Catholic and the period ended with the two teams locked in a 7-7 tie.

Ingram accounted for all three of Goucher's goals in the fourth period, hiking his total for the game to six and for the season to a team-high total of 23. Zook picked up assists on the goal Ingram scored to snap the 7-7 tie and also on the one the junior midfielder added 30 seconds later to make the score 9-7. After the Cardinals answered with goals by Nathan Chan and Brian Keith to level the score at 9-9, the Gophers went back in front on an unassisted goal by Ingram with 4:14 left to play.

The Gophers appeared to be in total control when they had possession of the ball with :17 showing on the clock and 60-second penalties were assessed to two Catholic players. Following a timeout, however, Goucher's bench was hit with a 30-second penalty, which gave the ball to the Cardinals. Four seconds later, Brendan Englert produced the fourth tie of the contest with an unassisted, man-down goal.

Catholic began the four-minute extra session still down two men and was only one second away from killing the penalties when Morgan pocketed the game-winning goal. An assist was awarded to Zook, his fourth of the game.

By getting off the only shot of overtime, the Gophers wound up with 32 shots, the same number as their opponent. Goucher finished with a 32-25 edge in ground balls.

Both starting goalkeepers went the distance: Connor Mishaw (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) made 12 saves in his 50th consecutive start for Goucher and Harrison Holak stopped 12 shots for Catholic.

With the win, the Gophers took a 19-0 lead in the all-time series between the two schools.