Follow Allows Rangers to Stay Ahead of Gophers

TOWSON, Md. — Goucher had a chance to pass Drew and catch as many as three other teams in the Landmark Conference standings, but in a game in which all the scoring took place in the second half, the Gophers bowed to the Rangers, 2-1, this afternoon on Beldon Field.

The scoreless tie lasted into the 52nd minute, which is when Drew was awarded its second corner kick of the contest. The kick by Benjamin Audi was first touched by Cole Leckburg, who set up John Nogiewich to finish with a low shot to the right corner.

It took head coach Bryan Laut's squad less than eight minutes to answer. Tate Becker (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) created a 1-1 deadlock by heading a free kick by Lashaw Salta (Allen, Texas/Plano East) into the top left corner. It was the sophomore midfielder's second goal of the season.

Between them, the two teams got off nine shots in attempt to break the tie. The ninth shot was taken by Audi and was stopped by goalkeeper Nicholas Stolarz (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson), who finished with six saves. Unfortunately for Stolarz, Drew's Dylan Hammer got to the rebound first and put it quickly away to the keeper's left.

The Gophers (6-6, 2-3 Landmark) still had 8:31 to try to score again and possibly send the game into overtime, but the only shot they were able to get off down the stretch was by Luis Gomes (Bushkill, Pa./East Stroudsburg North) and it went wide.

"I thought the guys did a good job today and were unfortunately on the wrong end of the result," Laut said. "Soccer is a tough game with a small margin for error and we made just enough mistakes to let a talented Drew team win."

The Rangers (7-4-5, 3-1-1 Landmark) finished with a 14-13 advantage in shots.

The Gophers will get another crack at one of the teams ahead of them in the conference standings when they play at Elizabethtown on Wednesday at 7 p.m.