Miller Tallies 15 Saves in Debut, Herdegen Scores Three Goals

CHESTERTOWN, MD -- Freshman goalie Matt Miller (Baldwin, MD/Calvert Hall) made 15 saves in his collegiate debut as host Washington College rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to post to a 7-6 win over visiting Goucher College in the men's lacrosse season opener for both schools tonight on Kibler Field at Roy Kirby, Jr. Stadium.

Goucher scored the first three goals of the contest. Rory Averett netted the only goal of the first quarter off an assist from David Jadin with 50 seconds to play in the period. Matt Lynch scored a pair of goals with 12:05 and 8:59 remaining in the second quarter, respectively. The Shoremen got on the board with 1:12 to play in the half as freshman midfielder Bennett Cord (Gaithersburg, MD/Gaithersburg) scored an extra-man goal off an assist from sophomore attackman Trey Hilberg (Upperco, MD/Hereford) to make it 3-1 at halftime.

The Shoremen cut the lead to one goal just 1:33 into the third quarter as Hilberg scored off a feed from sophomore attackman Billy Stafford (White Hall, MD/Hereford) on another extra-man opportunity. Washington knotted the score at 3-3 on a goal by junior midfielder Doug Herdegen (Baltimore, MD/Archbishop Curley) off an assist from Hilberg with 5:14 left in the period. The Gophers answered with a goal by Justin Dunn with 2:08 to go to pull ahead, 4-3.

Washington then scored a pair of critical man-down goals to take the lead for good. Freshman attackman Matt Lewis (Mt. Airy, MD/Glenelg Country School) scored the first at 1:53 after picking up a loose ball and Herdegen scored the second 15 seconds later off the ensuing face-off to give the Shoremen a 5-4 advantage. Stafford then gave the Shoremen a two-goal cushion with a score off a feed from Hilberg with 30 seconds to play in the quarter. The Gophers cut it to 6-5 with a goal by John Curry with five seconds left in the period.

Herdegen made the score 7-5 in favor of Washington with an extra-man goal off a Stafford assist with 10:53 to play in the fourth. The Gophers cut the lead back to one on an extra-man goal by Curry off an assist from Mike Russo with 2:14 remaining, but their only shot the rest of the way was one by Kyle Boncaro with 1:17 to go which was saved by Miller.

Herdegen finished with three goals in the game to lead all scorers, while Hilberg had a goal and three assists and Stafford had a goal and two assists for Washington. Lynch and Curry scored two goals each for Goucher.

Chris Stricklin made 14 saves in goal for the Gophers. Nine of Miller's 15 saves came in the first half.

Washington enjoyed a 34-32 edge in shots and a 34-26 advantage in ground balls in the game. Each team won eight face-offs in the contest.

The Shoremen return to action on Tuesday with a 4:00 p.m. non-conference game at Elizabethtown.