NEW LONDON, Conn.-- Freshman Maici Mintchwarner made 14 saves and Gianna Cascio had six points to lead the fourth-seeded Coast Guard women's lacrosse to an 11-9 victory over fifth-seeded Wheaton in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) quarterfinal. The Bears advance to the NEWMAC semifinal at Springfield on Wednesday, May 4 at 4 PM.

Cascio scored three goals with three assists to lead Coast Guard. Addy Bass, Shannon Schmidt, Caitlyn Coates, and Katharine Rott each had two goals apiece. Mia Becker had four draw controls and three caused turnovers.

Darien Webb had five goals and one assist to lead Wheaton. Brooke Harvey put away a pair of goals, and Abigail Mountain and Erin Ortega both scored a goal for the Lyons.

With a 2-2 tie in the first quarter, Webb scored the first of the second quarter at 11:13 for a 3-2 Wheaton lead. Coates sparked a three-goal run starting at 7:18 including two goals from Cascio as Coast Guard took a 5-3 lead with 2:34 remaining. Wheaton scored back-to-back goals in the final 23 seconds of the game to tie it up 5-5.

Coast Guard outscored Wheaton 2-1 in the third quarter, taking a 7-6 lead heading into the fourth.

Schmidt scored the opening goal of the fourth quarter, sparking a three-goal run to extend the Bears' lead to 10-6. Wheaton answered with two goals to cut the deficit, 10-8. Bass scored a man-up goal with 3:11 left, and Webb scored the final of the game for Wheaton, but Coast Guard held on for the 11-9 final

Maici Mintchwarner made a career-high 14 saves in the win in her first career start for the Bears. Emily Oundjian had four saves for Wheaton in the loss for the Lyons.