NEW LONDON, Conn. — 

After playing to a 1-1 stalemate through a hard-fought four halves, Oliver Perry (East Greenwich, R.I.) and Jack Putnam (Halfmoon, N.Y.) emerged as the heroes in the penalty kick shootout for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's soccer team, delivering a 4-3 win in PKs to advance Coast Guard past Springfield College in the first round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Men's Soccer Championship Tournament.

Putnam was tested early on, making a save on a hard shot by the Pride's Connor Policarpio to keep the game scoreless early. One of Coast Guard's best chances of the first half came from Andres Villasana (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) who made a near immediate impact by firing a volley off of a Bears corner right after subbing in.

Springfield struck first after team leader Parker Thornton got his leg in front of a clear chance for the Bears in the 38th minute and swiftly pursued the ricochet to an open lane. He was brought down in the box before he could get the chance to make an attempt, resulting in a penalty kick chance for the Pride. Thornton went on for the try and converted, getting it past a diving Putnam to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

But the Bears brought it back to even just a minute later thanks to a major contribution from the bench. On a break chance, Eric Howard (Dunkirk, Md.) chipped the ball behind him from the back corner of the penalty box to Alex Thissell (Ashburn, Va.) who fired a rocket past Springfield's keeper to knot the game back at one.

The rest of the game saw big opportunities for both sides go unrewarded by excellent defense. Early in the second half, Springfield had three consecutive chances diverted by great positioning from the Bears, who clogged up the passing and running lanes on two and drew an offsides call on the third. It went the other way in the 70th minute when a Coast Guard free kick chance was served into the box to an open Bears attacker, but the clinching speed of the Pride defense forced a weak try and easy save for Springfield goalie Noah Pote.

With the game still tied following 90 minutes of play, the game went to extra time with the Golden Goal rule in effect, meaning whichever team scored first would be the victors. Both sides bent, but neither broke over the added-on 20 minutes of play, which meant the game was to be decided with an always-high stakes penalty shootout.

The shootout opened with Thornton and Putnam standing face-to-face, but the Bears senior made the save to the cheers of a raucous Nitchman Field crowd. The Bears led, 4-3, after the next eight shots thanks to another Putnam save, and Perry was next for the hosts with the chance to wrap it all up. He had only appeared in two games and played 32 minutes up to that point, but he showed nerves of steel nonetheless by sending it to the back of the net.

Springfield's season ends while Bears men's soccer is now lined up for the semifinal match at 2-seed Babson College on Thursday at 1 pm ET. The Beaver forced a draw with the Bears on the last day of the regular season to clinch the second seed and put the Bears in the quarterfinal.