Box Score ALLENTOWN, Penn. – Two second half goals downed the Bears as the fell to Catholic 2-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Muhlenburg College.
The first half saw few opportunities for both teams as Catholic only outshot Coast Guard 4-1. The Bears back line played solid and limited the Cardinal's opportunities.
Coast Guard almost struck midway through the half on a set piece from the left side when sophomore Caelan Harshaw sent a low cross into the box. Multiple Bears converged on the cross but the Cardinal's defense was able to clear it out for a corner kick.
A few minutes later freshman Ryan Dandan slotted a pass between two defenders and played Senior Matthew Bogdan into space. Bogdan sent a cross into the box that beat Catholic's senior goalkeeper Torsten Meuschke but was cleared away by the Cardinals defense.
Catholic got on the board early in the second half when the Bears failed to clear the ball out of their end of the field. Senior Hunter Horvath hit a volley off the failed clearance into the upper right corner of the goal for his third goal of the season in the 48th minute.
Coast Guard had an opportunity to even the score shortly after the Cardinal's goal when senior Tradd Lovern beat his defender and sent a low cross into the box. Junior Lukas Benedetto attempted to redirect the cross on goal but was blocked out of play by a Catholic defender for a corner kick.
The Cardinals concluded their scoring at the 73:30 mark when freshman Matthew Holtschneider sent a cross into the Bear's penalty area. Freshman Mike Jelinsky met the service and one timed it into the back of the net for his first goal of the year.
In the final game of his college career senior Richie Burns made two saves as Coast Guard finished the year 13-3-3. Burns finishes his career with the most career shutouts with 26 and most shutouts in a single season with 10.
Meuschke made one save bringing Catholic's record to 10-5-5. The Cardinals have only allowed three goals in their last 11 games.
The Bears are now 0-3 in the NCAA Tournament but will look to build on this season that saw them rise as high as 14th in the nation.
Catholic will play Muhlenberg College who won the earlier game 4-0 over Baruch. Game time is 1:00 pm.
This was the final game for seniors Matthew Bogdan, Richie Burns, Tradd Lovern, John Tarzian, Conor Regan, Trey Chamberlain, and Jonathan Ray.
