Gophers Turn Back Greyhounds, Secure Playoff Berth

Senior Goalie Allows Three Goals, Makes Nine Saves in Second Half

TOWSON, Md. — Needing a win to secure a spot in the upcoming Landmark Conference postseason tournament, Goucher could have done itself a lot of good by getting off to a good start today against Moravian. But that didn't happen: the Greyhounds bolted out to a 3-0 lead before the game was even nine minutes old.

The Gophers still trailed at halftime, but thanks to a goal that Andi Lipson (Langhorne, Pa./George School) stuck with less than a second remaining in the first half, the deficit was only 6-5.

The start head coach Katie Trainor and her players would have liked to have had at the beginning of the contest finally materialized at the outset of the second half. Just 3:21 into the period, the Gophers pulled even with Moravian when Cindy Villarreal (Silver Spring, Md./Wheaton) deposited a free-position shot into the net. Five more unanswered goals followed as Goucher nailed down a playoff berth by turning back the Greyhounds, 12-9.

As the No. 4 seed in the tournament, Goucher (7-9, 2-3 Landmark) will face top-seeded Catholic in the semifinals on Wednesday, May 5.

The Gophers took the lead for good against the Greyhounds (5-11, 0-5 Landmark) on a goal by Hannah Khin (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth) that made the score 7-6 with 22:01 remaining.

Goucher opened up an 11-6 advantage before Moravian tallied its first goal of the second half with exactly 6:00 remaining.

Villarreal and Becca Smith (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) both contributed three goals to the victory; Sarah Carman scored three times for Moravian.

Gia Thomas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel Area), the only senior on Goucher's 2010 roster, started in goal for the Gophers and finished with 14 saves, nine of them in the second half. After the Greyhounds scored six times on just 12 shots in the opening period, Thomas limited them to three goals during the final 30:00.