BABSON PARK, Mass. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's soccer team's 2025 campaign came to an end on Thursday by way of a 1-3 defeat at the hands of Babson College in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Men's Soccer Championship Tournament Semifinals. Coast Guard scored the first goal of the game before Babson responded with three unanswered.

Babson will move on to the NEWMAC Championship game, which they will host thanks to 5-seed Worcester Polytechnic Institute's massive one-nil upset of 1-seed and #8 team in the nation Wheaton College. Both teams have stood atop the conference ladder within the past six seasons, with Babson winning five championships in that span and WPI earning the crown in 2023.

Coast Guard struck in the 16th minute, with center back Aidan Miles (Tampa, Fla.) clearing the ball up field from the halfway line to start the try. The ball made it past all Babson defenders, and so did Cole Miller (Annapolis, Md.), who was able to roll it past the crashing Beavers keeper to give his team the early advantage.

Babson saw back-to-back equalizing chances go unrewarded in the 23rd minute. The first saw striker Alex Yablonovskiy receive the ball right in front of the box after a play in and immediately fire it, but his try was instantly deflected by Jaden Smith's (Annapolis, Md.) perfect positioning. Blake Miller was quick to make another attempt on a header, but it was Naveen Jayaram (Tampa, Fla.) swooping in this time to send the ball out.

The Beavers finally broke through in the 25th, when another play into the box was redirected towards Yablonovskiy by McKenzy Pierre, and the big forward took advantage with a point-blank score. Babson almost took the lead later on when another try close to the frame was stopped by a wall of Bears and Beavers, with Jack Lopez (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) getting most of it with his chest and allowing a previously dispatched Jack Putnam (Halfmoon, N.Y.) the time to return to his feet and secure the ball.

Babson came out of halftime with aggressiveness, winning two corners within the first five minutes. They cashed in on the second one after Huey Miller served it up and Liam Goldstein cut through the box and flew in for the header. The Beavers made it a two-goal game in the 58th when Joao Araujo stole the ball and played it into the box for Yablonovsky, who feinted the wide-open shot to get Putnam off his mark and laid it on to Pierre for the score.

Coast Guard had one more display of defensive brilliance in the 74th when a Babson try was punched out on an acrobatic dive by Putnam. The hosts regained the ball quickly and fired quicker, but great positioning by Miles sent it out of bounds.

Babson's 19-3 shot lead and 9-1 shots on goal advantage were supplemented by wire-to-wire dominance in the second half, in which they allowed no shots from the Bears' offense. The Beavers also held a 5-1 edge on the corners, with Coast Guard's lone try from the right angle coming in the 75th minute. Cole Miller had all three shot attempts for the Bears while Yablonovskiy, Goldstein, and James Modiano matched him on the other end.

Babson's trademark roughhousing style of play was on full display throughout the match, being whistled for 11 fouls to the Bears' five, but it was Coast Guard garnering the majority of the game's color — the Beavers' physicality wore down the Bears and led to them receiving five yellows in comparison to just two for the hosts. All of the cards were handed out in the second half.

The game was the final one in the careers of Coast Guard seniors Miles, Putnam, Aki Freeman (San Diegio, Calif.), Alex Thissell (Ashburn, Va.), all four of whom put in big shifts for the game. Putnam made six saves in his collegiate finale.