Gophers Downed by Blue Jays in Landmark Opener

TOWSON, Md. - Visiting Elizabethtown College opened Landmark Conference play with a 16-7 win over Goucher College in men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Beldon Field.

• Etown (5-4, 1-0 Landmark) scored the game's first four goals to build a 4-0 lead nine minutes into the game.
• Goucher (3-7, 0-1) got on the board with 2:55 left in the opening quarter on a goal by Jacob Morgan (Bowie, Md./Bowie).
• Ben O'Connor scored back-to-back goals for the Blue Jays 36 seconds apart to put the guests up 6-1 with 1:49 remaining.

• Elizabethtown extended its lead to 7-1 4:25 into the second quarter.
• Theo Cook IV (Edgewood, Md./Edgewood) scored on an assist from Ben Smith (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) with 9:14 left in the half.
• The Blue Jays scored three goals in a span of 2:33 to up their lead to 10-2 with 5:09 on the clock.
• Smith notched his second helper of the game on a goal by Jack McDermott (Wilmington, Del./The White Mountain School) with 3:23 to go before the break.
• Etown carried a 10-3 lead into intermission.

• Elizabethtown scored the first four goals of the second half to take a 14-3 lead with 8:45 left in the third period.
• Milan Temple (Joppatowne, Md./Concordia Prep) scored off a feed from Morgan with 8:20 on the clock.
• The Blue Jays led 15-4 entering the final frame.

• Eric Conaway, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Cristo Rey Jesuit) and Smith scored 22 seconds apart to make it 15-6 with 11:38 to go.
• The Blue Jays recorded a man-up goal with 10:03 left.
• Smith closed out the scoring with his second goal of the game with 8:42 to play.

• Elizabethtown held a 49-31 shot advantage on the afternoon and won 16 of the game's 26 faceoffs.
• Justin Lugo (Davie, Fla./Saint Andrew's School) made a career-high 25 saves for the Gophers.  He now has 633 career saves, just one shy of Austin Main for third place in program history.
• Smith led the Gophers with two goals and two assists, while Morgan added a goal and an assist.
• Kyle Ramos (Bethesda, Md./Bethesda Chevy Chase) had a pair of caused turnovers and three ground balls for Goucher.
• Dwayne Barnes, Jr. (Salisbury, Md./Parkside) had a team-best six ground balls, while Sean Nolan (Las Vegas, Nev./Faith Lutheran) had three ground balls and a caused turnover.

• Goucher is idle until next Saturday, April 1, when it heads to Juniata for a 1 pm Landmark Conference contest.
• The Gophers return home on Saturday, April 8, hosting Drew in a 1 pm game at Beldon Field.