TOWSON, Md. - Goucher went 5-of-6 on extra-man opportunities, but it was a man-down goal by Adam Pietrocarlo (Hamburg, NY/Frontier Central) in the second quarter that put the Gophers ahead to stay in their 10-5 triumph over St. Vincent today.

The Gophers (2-0) were trailing 2-1 late in the first period before Dave Duff (Westwood, MA/Suffield Academy) and Brian Hoge (Crofton, MD/Arundel) both scored during a three-minute penalty on St. Vincent for an illegal stick. Another extra-man goal by Duff 4:45 into the second quarter put head coach Kyle Hannan's squad ahead 4-2.

After the Bearcats (2-2) came back to tie the score at 4-4, the Gophers struck for three goals - Pietrocarlo's with a teammate serving a penalty and even-strength goals by Sam Fitzpatrick (Littleton, CO/Arapahoe) and Jake Fratella (Wilmington, DE/Brandywine) - in the final 3:32 of the first half to assume a 7-4 advantage at the break.

The only goal of the third period was Duff's third of the contest, and all three came with a St. Vincent player serving a penalty.

Fitzpatrick's extra-man goal 5:51 into the fourth quarter put the Gophers ahead 9-4 and capped a two-goal, three-assist performance for the junior attackman.

Jarrid Johnson accounted for four of St. Vincent's five goals.

The win provided the Gophers with a 4-0 lead in the all-time series between the two teams.

2008-03-02