TOWSON, Md. - Goucher filled one of the spots in Saturday's Landmark Conference championship game by pummeling Scranton, 12-2, today in the semifinals of the conference's inaugural postseason tournament.

As the tournament's No. 2 seed, the Gophers (11-4) will take on either top-seeded Drew or the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy for the title. The Rangers battle the Mariners tonight in the other semifinal and would also host the championship game if they win. If Merchant Marine prevails in the semifinals, the championship game would take place in Gopher Stadium.

Against the Royals (12-5) today, the Gophers needed only eight shots to produce five unanswered goals in the opening quarter. An illegal procedure penalty on Scranton led to an extra-man goal by Sam Fitzpatrick that put Goucher ahead 1-0 just 1:28 into the contest

Over the final 6:29 of the first period, the Gophers tacked on even-strength goals by Alex Boucher, Cooper Mazon, Brian Hoge and Dave Duff to stretch their lead to 5-0.

Goucher, which had to go into overtime to defeat Scranton earlier this season, struck for four more goals - including a pair by Adam Pietrocarlo - in the second period for a commanding 9-0 advantage at halftime.

The Gophers went ahead 10-0 on an unassisted goal by Alan Tiet 3:04 into the third period before the Royals finally got on the scoreboard on an unassisted goal by Doug Homan after 35:10 had elapsed.

Austin Main went the distance in goal for Goucher and made saves on 17 of the 35 shots the Rangers got off.

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TOWSON, Md.-Goucher College held The University of Scranton scoreless for the first 35 minutes of play en route to a 12-2 victory in the semifinals of the Landmark Conference tournament Wednesday afternoon.

The Royals fell behind 9-0 by intermission and didn't crack the scoreboard until sophomore Doug Homan (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) scored an unassisted goal with 9:50 left in the third period. Scranton, now 12-5, did not score again until freshman Kyle Frank (Glen Arm, Md./Boys' Latin) tallied his team-leading 36th goal of the season off an assist from senior Kevin Joyce (Floral Park, N.Y./Chaminade) with 8:10 remaining in the fourth period.

The Gophers unveiled a balanced scoring attack to move into Saturday's championship game against either #4 USMMA or #1 Drew. Sam Fitzpatrick, Brian Hoge, Dave Duff, Cooper Mazon, and Adam Pietrocarlo scored two goals apiece to pace the Gophers. Goucher took control from the onset, building up a 5-0 lead in the first period with five different players scoring a goal. Defensively, the Gophers got a big lift from goalie Austin Main, who finished with a game-high 17 saves.

Despite the loss, the Royals finished with a school-record 12 victories, eclipsing the previous mark of 11 by the 1999 team, under second-year head coach Kevin Dugan. Dugan is now 19-14 (.575) at Scranton, including back-to-back conference tournament berths, and is 32-27 (.542) overall in his four seasons as a head coach on the collegiate level.

On April 5, Scranton lost a 7-6 decision in overtime to Goucher in Towson, Maryland, during the regular-season.

2008-04-30