Merchant Supplies Goal in 1-Nil Victory Over Blazers

TOWSON, Md. — Goucher improved to 7-0-2 when it gets on the scoreboard first when a goal by Brooke Merchant (Gaithersburg, Md./Thomas S. Wootton) in the 69th minute stood up as the only goal in a 1-nil triumph over Hood on Beldon Field this afternoon.

The goal came just minutes after head coach Tati Korba moved Merchant into the midfield, which allowed her to break toward the middle of the box and head a cross that was delivered by Camryn Mackey (Washington D.C./Woodrow Wilson). Merchant's shot skimmed the crossbar and bounced in front of the opposing keeper, but because there was a significant amount of backspin on the ball, Alexis Andrukat couldn't completely control it until it had crossed the goal line.

The goal was the second of the season for Merchant.

The Gophers (7-3-2) finished with a 23-8 edge in shots. Andrukat was credited with a total of seven saves; Juliana Harkavy (Memphis, Tenn./Ridgeway), who played all 90 minutes in goal for Goucher, made six saves to earn her fifth shutout of the season and lower her goals-against average to 0.90.

The loss was the fourth in a row for the Blazers (4-7).

"We knew this was going to be an emotionally challenging game coming out of conference and off of playing two regionally ranked teams this past week," Korba commented following the contest. "Hood was organized and did well dropping large numbers in behind the ball, which made things difficult. At the end of the day, we came away with the result that we were looking for and we re-focus for our three Landmark games over the next 10 days."

The first Landmark Conference game Korba was speaking of will be played on Beldon Field against Scranton this Saturday, beginning at 3:30 p.m.