Gophers Use Salta's Late Goal to Turn Back Seahawks

TOWSON, Md. — An unassisted goal by Lashaw Salta (Allen, Texas/Plano East) with 47 seconds remaining in regulation snapped a tie that existed since the 36th minute and provided Goucher with a 2-1 triumph over St. Mary's (Md.) tonight on Beldon Field.

The goal was the senior midfielder's second of the season.

The Gophers (5-4) got on the scoreboard first in the 10th minute when Marco Grotti (Milmay, N.J./Millville) sent in a long pass from the center of the field to Jeremy Hardy (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Beacon School), who beat the keeper one-on-one for his first goal of the season.

An unassisted goal by Emmanuel Kanneh at 35:20 created a 1-1 tie.

With the game clock showing less than a minute remaining in regulation, the Gophers served the ball and the Seahawks responded by clearing it. Salta gained possession of the second ball near the top of the box, took a touch  and let loose a shot that he deposited in the top corner.

The Seahawks (5-5) got off two final shots following Salta's goal, but both were blocked out front. For the game, shots were 13-12 in favor of St. Mary's.

Nicholas Stolarz (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson), who has allowed one or fewer goals in seven of Goucher's nine games so far this season, made two saves, both of which prevented St. Mary's from taking the lead. He stopped a header by Andrew Battin in the closing seconds of the first half and a shot by Matthew Braun nearly six minutes into the second period.

Zack Haussler started in goal for the Seahawks and the save he made on a shot by Salta in the 67th minute was the only one he recorded before his coach made a goalie change in the 83rd minute.

In the 16 years that Goucher belonged to the Capital Athletic Conference, the Gophers managed to beat St. Mary's only two times, so tonight's win was their third, to go along with a pair of draws, in 23 tries against the Seahawks.

"I'm really happy for the guys tonight," head coach Bryan Laut commented following the game. "We played a tough game against a strong team and found a way to pull out a win. It was a great goal and we are going to need Lashaw and our other attacking players to step up as we enter the key stretch of our schedule where whether or not we make the conference playoffs will be determined."

Goucher isn't scheduled to play again until Laut's squad welcomes Catholic to Beldon Field for a Landmark Conference game on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m.