Men's Soccer Earns First-Ever Landmark Playoff Win at Etown

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - Sixth-seeded Goucher College rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to topple third-seeded Elizabethtown College 3-2 in the first round of the 2023 Landmark Conference Men's Soccer Championship Tuesday evening at Herr Field.  The win marked the first-ever Landmark Conference men's soccer tournament victory in program history.

• Etown (8-7-3) had the game's first shot just under two minutes into the contest.
• With just over 19 minutes remaining in the first half, Goucher's (10-6-2) Jeremiah Odubade had the first Gopher shot of the game from 25 yards that sailed wide.
• With just over 17 minutes left, the Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Mehluko Letsoalo after he knocked in a low pass from the left side by Pedro Guizardi.
• Just past the 34-minute mark, Gus Dalzell scored from 20 yards out to tie the game 1-1, with Will Frasier assisting.
• Two minutes later, Michael Adekanmbi had a shot saved by Etown keeper Kelvin Del Cid.
• With 1:49 left before halftime, Adekanmbi scored, with Frasier picking up his second assist of the evening.
• Frasier slipped a ball past two Blue Jay defenders, with Adekanmbi going inside the far left post to put the Gophers in front.

• Etown came out firing to open the second half with a pair of shots in the first five minutes.
• Goucher keeper Ale Sternini made a save on a Thomas Smith shot from close range in the 52nd minute.
• Sternini had two more saves in the next five minutes.
• With just over 16 minutes to go, Paul Van Engeland made it 3-1.
• Van Engeland made a move around a Etown defender and his low liner from just outside the 18 went inside the right post.
• Guizardi scored off a corner kick with 12:43 to go to pull the hosts within 3-2.
• Etown had a pair of shots and a pair of corner kicks the rest of the way but the Gophers were able to hold on.

• Elizabethtown outshot Goucher 20-6, including 11-1 in the second half.
• Sternini made five saves for the Gophers, while Del Cid had one save.
• The Blue Jays had seven of the game's 10 corner kicks.
• Goucher's win was its first-ever Landmark Conference tournament win in its third appearance.  The Gophers tied Catholic in 2014 and Etown last season in the conference semifinals but failed to advance on penalty kicks both times.
• Goucher reaches the 10-win mark for the second straight season and just the fourth time in program history.
• The Gophers picked up their second win against Elizabethtown this season after going 0-5-4 in the first nine meetings with the Blue Jays.

• Goucher travels to second-seeded Lycoming on Thursday evening for a 7 pm Landmark Conference semifinal.
• The Warriors, who are in their first season in the league, downed the Gophers 2-0 in Williamsport earlier this season.