Front Royal, VA- The Crusaders fell this past Tuesday (November 19) to the Goucher College Gophers. The Crusaders came out flat to start the game, while Goucher, came ready to play and as a result the Gophers jumped out to an early 9-0 lead. Goucher continued to extend their lead early in the half, running the score to 21-7. But then the Crusaders began to battle back, slowly making up the deficit they had allowed to accumulate. The Crusaders offensive was led by Freshman, John Pennefather, as he got hot from three-point land, knocking them down, one after another. By the end of the half John had racked up five three-pointers and a total of 17 points. The Crusaders late first half offensive pulled them back with in two, the halftime score: 33-31.
The Crusaders came out of the half hoping to continue their offensive serge, however early in the second half things took a turn for the worse. After inbounding the ball, Senior and Captain, Thomas Vander Woude, stepped into the back court and collided with Freshman, Joe Dotson. Joe escaped the collision unharmed, but Thomas suffered a semester ending injury, in a broken jaw. With their leader out the Crusaders could not find their rhythm again, as they dropped the game, 76-55.
This was just the Crusaders second game of the season and, although they showed signs of improvement, the main take away is a negative one, simply, a broken jaw for the teams Senior, Captain.