Gophers Drop Final Five Singles Matches to Cardinals

WASHINGTON — Goucher missed out on a chance to move in a tie for third place in the Landmark Conference standings, falling 7-2 on the road at Catholic this afternoon.

The Cardinals (12-4, 3-1 Landmark) now have a two-game advantage on the Gophers (8-9, 1-3) after winning for just the second time in the last six matchups between the conference rivals.

Catholic earned the match's first point with an 8-4 win from the No. 2 doubles position. Goucher evened the score at No. 1, with Amanda Bercovici (Hackensack, N.J./Bergen Tech) and Alex Walsh (Greens Farm, Conn./Staples) posting an 8-4 win of their own over Elizabeth Harvey and Laura Torsiello. Bercovici and Walsh have now won six straight doubles matches from the top spot, and they also maintained a perfect 4-0 mark in conference matches.

The Cardinals managed yet another 8-4 win, this time at No. 3, to take a 2-1 advantage into singles. Bercovici momentarily leveled the match at two apiece with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over Harvey at No. 1, improving to 19-3 on the season in the process, but Catholic won each of the remaining five matches to close things out.

Kelsey Turner (Philadelphia, Pa./Germantown Friends) came closest to earning a third point for the Gophers. She won the first set of her matchup with Eliana Martinez at No. 3, but Martinez rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory to clinch the overall match for the Cardinals.

With today's setback, Goucher slips into a tie for fifth place in the Landmark standings with Juniata. The Gophers are a half-game behind Susquehanna for the fourth and final playoff spot, with matchups against both Juniata and Susquehanna still remaining on the schedule.

Goucher remains on the road for its next contest, traveling to Dickinson for a 3:30 p.m. non-conference tilt this Thursday.