NEW LONDON, Conn. –

In an intense conference battle, the Coast Guard Bears came out victorious with a late comeback over the Springfield Pride. The loss drops Springfield to 3-6-1(2-1 NEWMAC). The Pride will look to bounce back in a non conference matchup at home vs Worcester State Tuesday at 6:00 PM. 

The scoreless first half was a physical, defensive battle. While Coast Guard dominated the time of possession and had more shots(10-7), Springfield undoubtedly had the better scoring opportunities. The best of the Pride was on a Penalty kick at the 14:50 mark. After CGA was called for a foul in the box, Springfield took a penalty kick. Goalkeeper John Putnam(Halfmoon, NY) dove to his right and made a marvelous save on the PK. However, when it was deemed Putnam came off the line, the Pride were given another chance. Putnam, diving to his left this time, again made a diving save to keep the score at 0-0. The Bears looked poised to score a goal of their own when Brennan King(Shepherdstown, WV) found the back of the net, but Coast Guard was called offside to negate the goal.

Only getting credit for one save for his PK effort, Putnam made his second and final save of the half count. With just 13 seconds remaining in the half, the Pride appeared to be heading towards a 1-0 lead. Instead, the junior keeper came out of goal and was able to get his foot on the Springfield shot to send the teams to half at 0-0.

In the 2nd, Coast Guard came out firing. Shots from Cole Miller(Annapolis, MD) and Andres Villasana(Ponte Vedra Beach, FL) in the 54th and 56th minutes nearly found the back of the net for the Bears. Less than a minute after Villasana's shot, Jake Fish nearly found the net himself but a save by Springfield goalkeeper Noah Pote(Washington, CT) sent the Bears back to the drawing board. 

10 minutes later, Springfield finally broke through and scored the first goal of the afternoon. After a defensive miscue on an under-passed ball to the keeper, Connor Policarpio(Bristol, CT) put the ball in the back of the night despite the efforts of CGA defender Naveen Jayaram(Tampa, FL) who hurried in the goal from out of nowhere and was nearly able to block the attempt. 

The Bears would soon have an opportunity to answer. In the 74th minute, Coast Guard defender Jude Sargent(West Hartford, CT) put a header on goal after a corner kick but Pride keeper Noah Pote jumped up and made the tip save to keep the Bears at zero. Sargent would make the best of his next opportunity. In the 78th minute, on a well placed pass from a poised Naveen Jayaram, Sargent found himself in the box with no one between him and the keeper. The senior found the back of the net with 11:11 remaining to tie the score at 1-1. 

In the 86th minute, Michael O'Brien(Mays Landing, NJ) came through with the dagger. On a perfect pass from Aki Freeman(San Diego, CA), O'Brien played hero for the Bears and scorched a ball past the Springfield keeper to give CGA their first lead of the afternoon. They would hold on for the final four minutes for the improbable comeback victory over the Pride to hand them their first conference loss of the year. 

The Bears, now 8-2-1(2-1 NEWMAC) have a well deserved week off and will face Clark University next Saturday 12 PM at home.