McDaniel Pulls Away from Gophers in Second Half

TOWSON, Md. — Goucher stayed competitive for the opening 30 minutes against a strong McDaniel team, with a last-minute goal from Jessica Borucki (Westminster, Md./North Carroll) reducing its deficit to 7-4 heading into the intermission.

It was all Green Terror in the second half, however, as the Gophers were outshot 22-5 and outscored 11-0 en route to an 18-4 defeat at Beldon Field.

Today's game was originally scheduled to be played at McDaniel, but icy field conditions forced a move to Towson. Goucher took advantage of its home turf early on. After Samantha Barbeito got the Green Terror on the scoreboard less than four minutes in, Megan Meluskey (Wilmington, Del./Concord) immediately responded with an unassisted strike of her own to level things up.

The next three goals went to McDaniel before Borucki tallied the first of her two goals on the afternoon. After two more Green Terror markers, Jojo Franklin (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver School) fired in a goal to make it 6-3 with 3:54 remaining. Meluskey picked up an assist on the play, giving her multiple points in each of the first two contests.

The two teams then traded goals in the final three minutes. McDaniel (1-0) had a slight 18-13 edge in shots at halftime, while the Gophers (1-1) led 16-12 in ground balls.

The Green Terror dominated possession after the break, though, adding five goals to their total in the opening eight minutes and keeping up consistent pressure the rest of the way. Danielle Entrot accounted for much of the damage, finishing with a team-high five goals, four assists and six ground balls. Barbeito, meanwhile finished with four goals and two helpers while Julia Jacobs registered a hat trick of her own.

Borucki and Anneke Ossorio (Lafayette, Colo./Kent Denver School) led Goucher with four shots apiece. Ossorio and Zoe Merz (Westminster, Md./Westminster) each added three draw controls, while Kat Carnevale (Portland, Ore./St. Mary's Academy) caused four turnovers on the defensive end.

This was the first meeting between the two teams since a 16-6 McDaniel victory on Feb. 28, 2009. The Green Terror ended today's contest with a 40-18 edge in shots.

The Gophers will look to get back on track this Saturday, when they remain at Beldon Field for a 1 p.m. matchup against Randolph.