Gophers Roll to 7-2 Road Victory over St. Mary's (Md.)

ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. — Holding a 2-1 lead after the doubles portion of the afternoon, the middle of Goucher's singles lineup made quick work of St. Mary's (Md.) to seal a road victory for the Gophers.

Joey Caracappa (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Saddlebrook Preparatory School) and Jack Hodges (London, England/Shrewsbury School) each shut out their opponents at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, while Midori Fujitani (Tokyo, Japan/International School Bangkok) clinched the match at No. 4 with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Connor McKissick.

Seth Hoesman (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) and Britt Shortle (Lake Mary, Fla./Trinity Preparatory School) added singles wins for Goucher, which topped the Seahawks by a 7-2 final margin. Hoesman outlasted Mark Hardesty 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 from the top singles position, and Shortle cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Nick Ersoy at No. 5.

"This was a really solid effort for us as a team today," head coach Brendan Kincaid said. "It's a step in the right direction for our program. Hopefully we will continue to build off this match in the coming weeks."

The Gophers (3-2) had lost to St. Mary's (1-2) in each of the last five seasons, including an 8-1 setback last spring.

Hoesman and Caracappa got Goucher on the scoreboard with an 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles, while Hodges and Shortle edged out their Seahawk counterparts 9-7 at No. 2. St. Mary's picked up its first point by defeating Fujitani and John Bescoby (San Marino, Calif./Maranatha) 8-5 at the final doubles position.

Kyle Van Winter tacked on a second point with 2-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (11-9) come-from-behind victory over Josh Goldberg (Centreville, Md./Queen Anne's County) at No. 6 singles.

Caracappa and Hodges remained unbeaten in dual singles matches, and Hoesman and Caracappa improved to 4-0 as a team in dual doubles contests.

The Gophers return to the court at 11 a.m. next Saturday for a neutral site matchup against Cabrini. The match is scheduled to take place in Bel Air, Md.