NEW LONDON, Conn. - Coast Guard Sophomore Niki Kruger had five goals and one assists as the Bears led wire to wire in their first ever NCAA victory over Martime (NY) in nonconference action.

Kruger's five goals was a career high for her in the early part of this season and gives her a team high nine on the season. Seniors Holly Morre and Anne Schneider each had two goals and an assist for Coast Guard (1-1). The two goals were their first of the season.

Sophomore Jane Quinn had four goals for the Privateers while Jeanne Lavelle had three goals. This was Maritime's first game of the season.

The Bears quickly ran out to a 2-0 lead as junior Kaitlin Dickson scored an unassisted goal just over one minute into the game. Kruger would follow up Dickson with a free position goal with 27:12 left on the clock.

The Privateers would get on the board midways through the half as Quinn put away her first goal of the game.

The half ended with Kruger and Quinn each swapping goals and giving Coast Guard a 3-2 lead going into the half.

It was all the Bears in the first part of the second half as they came out and scored five of the first six goals pushing their lead to 8-3. Kruger and Schneider each had two goals over this stretch while senior Ruby Surgent added a goal, her second of the season. 

The Bears and Privateers would each score four goals the rest of the way including freshman Niki Kirchner-Hope's first goal of the season and her collegiate career giving Coast Guard a 12-7 victory.

Head Coach Ruth Ness was thrilled with her teams performance saying, " I was happy with our teams effort especially in the second half. The girls played hard and earned the victory today."

Freshman Angel Fay made seven saves on 14 shots faced for the Bears. Fay is now 1-1 on the season.

Sophomore Christina Finnen made 10 saves on 22 shots for her first loss of the season. 

Moore, Kruger, and Surgent helped Coast Guard hold an advantage in loose balls as they picked up six, six, and five ground balls respectively giving the Bears a 37-30 edge.

Coast Guard heads south for two games away from home as they play Stockton on March 9th and Guilford on March 11th. Both games will start at 4:00.