Box Score NORTON, Mass. – An early goal dooms the Bears as the fall to WPI in the NEWMAC Tournament semifinals 1-0 hosted by Wheaton College.
The Engineers got on the board early when a cross from sophomore Zach Chapman found senior Eric Crevoiserat near the front post at the 5:14 mark. Senior goalkeeper Richie Burns came charging of his lie to cut off the cross, but Crevoiserat looped a header over Burns for his fourth goal of the season.
After the goal the game turned into a more defensive tilt as the Bears managed only one shot on goal and the Engineers had two.
Coast Guard's best opportunity came with fifteen minutes left in the half when senior Trey Chamberlain settled a pass at the top of WPI's eighteen yard box. Chamberlain struck a hard, low shot but freshman Connor Hoeckele dove to his right and smothered the shot ending the Bears attack.
The second half saw more physical play as each team had nine fouls. The Engineers dropped more defenders back and continued to hold off the Coast Guard offense.
Early in the second half sophomore Caelan Harshaw sent a service into the box from just inside the halfway mark. The ball was headed down to freshman Ryan Dandan who ripped a one time shot but put it just over the crossbar and out of play.
The next opportunity for the Bears again started with an arching pass from Harshaw from just inside the half. Sophomore Brad McNell rose up over his defender and headed the ball towards the opposite corner of the goal. The header, however, went just wide of the goal and out for a WPI goal kick.
With the time ticking down, Coast Guard mounted their final attack when junior Lukas Benedetto beat his defender down the right side and sent across into the box. Freshman Austin Read attempted to head the ball on goal but knocked it towards the ground and was easily collected by Hoeckele.
Burns makes two saves in the loss dropping the Bears record to 13-2-3. The loss is the first of the season for Burns whose record on the year is 12-1-3.
Hoeckele made two saves in the win for WPI bringing their record to 14-4 on the season. They will face Babson in the NEWMAC Tournament finals. Babson beat Wheaton earlier in the day by a score of 2-0.
Coast Guard must wait till Monday, November 10th, to learn if they will receive and at large bid for the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is at 1:30 pm.
