Gophers Bow to Royals, Will Be No. 4 Seed

Gophers Bow to Royals, Will Be No. 4 Seed

Smith Sticks Four Goals, Boosting Season Total to 36

April 25, 2009

SCRANTON, Pa. – Goucher already had a spot in next week's Landmark Conference championship tournament, but with the win over Scranton this afternoon, head coach Katie Trainor's Gophers would go into the tournament as the No. 3 seed and riding a four-game winning streak.

Instead, they will be the No. 4 seed because today they were beaten by the Royals, 18-8.

Cindy Villarreal (Kensington, Md./Wheaton) provided the Gophers (7-7, 2-3 Landmark) with their only lead when her goal 10:55 into the contest snapped a 1-1 tie. Over the final 18:05 of the first half, the Royals (8-6, 3-2 Landmark) outscored Goucher, 9-1, to open up a 10-3 advantage at the break.

The Gophers strung together four consecutive goals to begin the second half and closed to within 10-7 on a goal by Becca Smith (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) with 24:21 left to play. The rest of the way, however, Scranton managed to score eight times and hold Goucher to only one goal.

Smith finished with four goals and an assist and is now tied with Marlo Tersigni (Boston, Mass./Lawrence Academy) for the team lead in goals with 36.

Caroline Pryor was the leading scorer for Scranton as she stuck six goals.