Goucher has released its schedule for the 2015 season. Here is a breakdown of the slate that awaits the Gophers, who went 7-8 last year and finished third in the Landmark Conference with a 4-2 record.
10: Goucher could return four players who recorded at least 10 assists last spring. Senior attackman Dylan Zook (15 assists), senior midfielder Sam Woodruff (14), senior attackman Sam Morgan (13) and junior midfielder Owen Demmerly (10) could bring their playmaking skills to the offense.
9: The Gophers haven't won at least nine games in each of their last two years. They finished with 10 victories or more in each of their first six seasons.
8: Goucher is scheduled to play eight games away from Beldon Field in Towson. It will be the fourth time in the last six years that the team will play on the road at least eight times.
7: The Gophers are the only team to qualify for all seven Landmark Conference tournaments by finishing in the top four every year. They have won the regular season championship five times, placed second once, and finished third once.
6: Goucher will go from tangling with six Landmark opponents in 2014 to seven this season. Elizabethtown joins the league after previously playing in the Commonwealth Conference.
5: The Gophers have advanced to five of seven Landmark Conference tournament finals. But they have lost three times in the title game, including last year against Susquehanna.
4: Of the seven starters who could return from last year's team, four are on defense. A unit that allowed 8.6 goals per game last spring could be a strength with the return of a trio of junior defensemen in Nathan Cain, Andrew Foster and Blake Russell and senior goalkeeper Karl Wiszumerski.
3: The Gophers graduated three starters from last year's squad. They bade farewell to midfielder Pierce Ingram (21 goals and seven assists), attackman Max Roach (16, 11) and short-stick defensive midfielder Steve Patterson (10, 3).
2: Goucher is scheduled to meet two teams that earned berths in last spring's NCAA tournament. Reigning Centennial Conference champion and Final Four participant Washington will visit on Feb. 21, and defending Landmark titlist Susquehanna will visit on April 3.
1: The Gophers will face two opponents for the first time in program history. They will open the campaign at Millsaps on Feb. 13 and travel to Huntingdon on Feb. 15.