Tonkovich Contributes Two Goals to Win Over Hornets

WINCHESTER, Va. — Even with a leg injury keeping him out of the first four games, Kevin Tonkovich (Lacey, N.J./Lacey Twp.) took over as the team leader in goals for Goucher so far this season by scoring twice tonight in a 3-1 triumph over Shenandoah.

The sophomore forward, who tallied one of the goals when the Gophers defeated Moravian, 2-0, in their first Landmark Conference game of the season on Saturday, put his team up 1-0 over the Hornets (3-6) in the 30th minute tonight when he hit a half volley and deposited the ball into the far corner.

The one-goal advantage lasted only one minute, nine seconds, which is as long as it took for Tonkovich to score his third goal of the season and sixth of his career by finishing a serve from junior defender George El-Khoury (Cranford, N.J./Cranford).

Exactly three minutes into the second half, Shenandoah closed to within 2-1 on a goal by Loudon Phillips, but sophomore forward Andrew Marcantonio (Philadelphia, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy) restored Goucher's lead to two when he headed in a pass off a set piece from senior defender Brandon Weiner (Derwood, Md./Col. Zadok A. Magruder).

"I give full credit to my guys for tonight's win because they are the ones who made the long trip here and figured out a way to win a game against a much-improved team," head coach Bryan Laut commented following the non-conference contest. "This was a good one to get and now we prepare for another conference game."

The Gophers (4-3), who will face the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday in Kings Point, N.Y., finished with a 12-8 advantage in shots. Nicholas Stolarz (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson), who played all 90 minutes in goal, allowed only the one goal and made two saves to keep his goals against average for the season at 1.00.