NEW LONDON, Conn. –

In their annual SPARS game, Coast Guard came out victorious despite a late comeback effort made by the Pioneers of Smith College. Just as Coast Guard outscored Smith 5-1 in the first, Smith outscored CGA 5-1 in the fourth quarter. The Bears were able to hold on however, thanks to their two goal advantage in the second quarter. 

For Smith College, the loss drops them to 5-6(1-3 NEWMAC). They will next travel to Salve Regina on Wednesday April 2nd for a 6:00 PM game vs the Seahawks. 

Coast Guard came out of the gate red hot, scoring the first five goals of the afternoon before Smith added one at the end of the first quarter. Their first three goals were unassisted, from the sticks of Hannah Warnke(Lincoln, NE), Isabella Judge(Buffalo, NY), and Katharine Rott(Severna Park, MD). Rott stayed busy in the first, scoring the Bears fourth goal on an assist from Kira Howard(Wilton, CT) before assisting on the fifth goal with Warnke scoring her second.

In the second, Isabella Judge(the team leader in points with four) stayed hot with a hand in each of the first two Bears goals. Judge gave CGA a 6-1 lead with an unassisted goal to start the quarter and assisted on Caitlyn Coates(Hanover, PA) goal to put the Bears up 7-1. Kira Howard would add another goal to head to halftime up 8-2. 

CGA would further extend their lead to 10-3 with back to back goals after Smith scored one to begin the half. The goals were scored by Caitlyn Coates and Aislinn Murray(Annapolis, MD), both assisted by Abby McAllister(Pleasantville, NY). At that point in the game, Smith made their run, scoring six goals in the final 20 minutes of the game. Fortunately for CGA, the Pioneers ran out of time and Coast Guard held on to win by two. 

Stellar in goal for the Bears was senior captain Maici Mintchwarner(Cream Ridge, NJ). Mintchwarner today set the Coast Guard single game record for most saves with 17 saves on 26 shots from Smith College for a .470 save percentage. She had previously tied the record for most saves in a game with 16 last week vs MIT.

On defense, CGA had a season high 16 caused turnovers. Leading the way were Gabriella Kraus-Rivera(West Linn, OR), Rowan Walsh(Hampstead, MD), and Riley Mullen(Williamsburg, VA) who each had three with freshman Ella Campbell(Foxborough, MA) adding two. Campbell was also the team leader in draw controls with four while Walsh led in ground balls with two.

The victory today was the second in a row for the Bears who improve back to .500 in both overall record(4-4) and in the NEWMAC(2-2). They will next travel to Springfield College on Wednesday April 2nd at 6:00 PM to face the Pride.