New London, Conn. – October 5, 2024 – Coast Guard used two goals in a span of less than eight minutes late in the second half to defeat the Springfield College men's soccer team, 2-1, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon at Nitchman Field.
 
Coast Guard, which came into today's game ranked fourth in the latest United Soccer Coaches Region II poll, improved to 8-2-1 overall and 2-1-0 in NEWMAC play, while the Pride dipped to 3-6-1, 2-1-0.

Springfield's Connor Policarpio (Bristol, Conn.) scored for the fourth consecutive game with his sixth tally of the season and fifth over that stretch of contests. Statistically, the game was pretty even across the board as Coast Guard held a 22-15 edge in shots, but both teams took seven corner kicks apiece.

In net, Noah Pote (Washington, Conn.) made seven saves for the Pride including four in the second half.

After 67 scoreless minutes, Springfield took a 1-0 advantage off a Coast Guard turnover inside the box. The ball was shoveled to the foot of Policarpio from a Pride defender for his sixth goal of the campaign, ranking him second in the conference for most goals this year and fourth in the NEWMAC with 14 points.

Then with 11 minutes to play, Jude Sargent found the equalizer for the Bears as he finished a header from Naveen Jayareem off a free kick near midfield. Sargent's goal was his second of the year. It appeared that both teams were going to walk away with a point in the NEWMAC standings and a draw, but Michael O'Brien potted the game winner with 3:17 left with his head off a long cross from the left flank to account for the 2-1 final.

Springfield will host Worcester State University in an non-conference match on Tuesday, October 8 at 6:00 pm.

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