Cardinals End Gophers' Season in Landmark Semis

WASHINGTON — Goucher's most successful season since 2004 came to an unfortunate conclusion this afternoon, with the Gophers falling 17-4 to top-seeded Catholic in the Landmark semifinals.

The Cardinals (13-3), currently ranked No. 11 in Division III, scored the game's first seven goals and led 13-1 at halftime. They will play for their seventh Landmark title in eight years on Saturday afternoon.

Sophie Smith (Lawrenceville, N.J./Madison) had a pair of goals to lead the offensive attack for Goucher (11-7). Jojo Franklin (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver School) assisted on a Rita Meissner (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) strike 1:41 into the second half, and Anneke Ossorio (Lafayette, Colo./Kent Denver School) also scored after the intermission. With Meissner's goal today, she reaches 35 for the season, and the senior attacker had at least one marker in 16 of 18 games.

Bridget Den Boer (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) relieved Emily Gill (White Hall, Md./North Harford) in goal with just over 10 minutes left in the opening half, and she went on to make a season-high six saves.

Lindsay Brophy led Catholic with four goals, while Nicolette Crisalli and Alexis Bosilovic each registered hat tricks. The Cardinals led 36-14 in shots and 18-5 in draw controls.

Today's loss ends a season which saw the Gophers reach double-digit wins for the first time since the 2004 squad finished 12-5. The program ended a three-year playoff drought and had five different players earn Landmark Athlete of the Week awards.