NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The U.S. Coast Guard Academy Women's Soccer team punched their ticket to the post-season with a draw against Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Saturday afternoon in a classic New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) affair. 

With everything riding on the outcome of their game, the women showed up on the pitch today and netted three goals, just the second time this season they have done that this season. They needed each of them today.

Midfielding junior, Sidney Palinkas had herself an afternoon, tallying an assist on the opening score of the game - a feed to Chase Merrick - before netting her own unassisted goal just ten minutes later. 

WPI refused to kiss their own hopes of a NEWMAC playoff berth good-bye though, even staring down the barrel of a 2-0 lead. A goal by Mia Gilmore in the 38th minute would cut Coast Guard's lead in half heading into the break. 

The Bears would respond right out of the gate however, when Merrick put her team up by a commanding 3-1 lead with her second goal of the day, on an assist from Karagan Bulger. 

Two more late goals from WPI would tie things up and give the Bears a small scare. A barrage of late attempts on both sides of the ball would prove to be fruitless. Emily Scharnitzky stopped the shots when they mattered down the stretch and helped her team hang on. 

The tie squeezes Coast Guard into the final spot of the NEWMAC playoff picture as the #7 seed in the tournament. They will travel to #2 seed, and #25 nationally ranked, Babson College on Tuesday, November 1st, 2022 for the quarterfinal match-up. Babson won the early season match-up against Coast Guard 3-0.