NEW LONDON, Conn.  -  Coast Guard men's lacrosse celebrated their senior class today prior to battling #18 Babson College in the final contest of the regular season. Having secured the fifth and lowest seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Championship Tournament, the Bears defeated the nationally-ranked Beavers as a proper send-off to their upperclassmen in their final game at Cadet Memorial Field.

Babson finishes their season with a 5-2 NEWMAC record (11-5 overall), claiming the second seed in the conference playoffs. They'll open their postseason against three-seeded MIT, who have a 5-2 conference showing (7-7 overall), with one of those two losses being a 14-15 nailbiter against the Beavers.

The Bears recognized their senior class as part of their pregame ceremony: Nick Butler (Northport, N.Y.), Ryan Hunter (Bethesda, Md.), Mason LaForte (Waterford, Conn.), Luke Nemsick (Shewsbury, Mass.), Oliver Bolton (Darien, Conn.), Carson Throne (Woodstock, Ga.), and cadet-coach Trent Lewis.

Babson took a quick three-goal lead in the first quarter by scoring three goals in just over a minute, the first coming with 12:47 on the clock and the last at 11:21. The Beavers scored once more at 4:46 before Coast Guard finally got on the board at 1:39.

The Bears were able to equalize with three more unanswered scores in the second at 12:23, 8:35, and 6:35, but it was Babson taking a lead into halftime after the visitors found the net for the fifth time with 1:53 to go.

Both teams traded goals to start the second half, with the first one going the Beavers' way at 10:45 before Coast Guard brought it back to a one-point game at 9:52. Babson found net again at 3:57 in a man-up situation, but the Bears got it back just before the fourth quarter with 1:01 remaining.

Coast Guard had stuck close to Babson the entire game, and the hosts decided it was time to put their cleats on the gas. The Bears tied it at seven with a goal at 12:20 before taking their first lead of the game just over a minute later at 11:02. The onslaught continued as the hosts scored three more times at 10:12, 9:14, and 8:28 to make some distance and incite raucous reactions from the fans.

Eight minutes is a lot of time, but Coast Guard's defense kept Babson from starting a comeback until there was 3:10 left to play. They Beavers scored again at 2:10 to make it an 11-9 game, but the Bears defense locked it down again to give the program their first win over a ranked team since 2023 (Feb 18, 12-11 over #17 RPI).

Going into the game, Babson held a successful clear rate over 90% this season; the Bears held them to 73.9%. The Beavers also found little success on extra-man opportunities, going 1-for-5 on the afternoon and 0-for-4 in the fourth quarter.

Coast Guard's big win would not have been possible without the efforts of the team's defensive unit, who caused 11 of Babson's 19 turnovers on the afternoon. Bolton led the way with three and sophomore Jamison Wildt (Arnold, Md.) had two, while six different Bears picked up the rest. Also integral in the backfield was sophomore goalkeeper Brett Tobasky (Brookline, Mass.), who beefed up his highlight reel with a 14-save game in just his fourth start of both the season and his career.

On offense, the Bears were led by a one-goal, three-assist game from Hunter and a two-goal, two-assist performance from freshman Ezekiel Christian (Stonington, Conn.). Mason Tucker (Alpharetta, Ga.) shook off a 2-for-9 showing on face-offs in the first half to go 6-for-11 in the second; he was 4-for-7 in the fourth quarter alone.

Christian's classmate Nolan Grizzle (Severna Park, Md.) was also integral to the win, assisting on a goal in the second quarter and scoring two of the Bears' five goals during that fourth quarter run, while junior Patrick Smith (Leesburg, Va.) also tallied three points on two goals and an assist.

Bears men's lacrosse now turns their attention to the postseason. On April 29th, they'll face five seed Salve Regina, who carry a 4-3 NEWMAC record (11-5 overall) into the match-up; Salve earned the seed priority by defeating Coast Guard earlier in the season. The winner goes on to face top seed Springfield College (7-0 NEWMAC, 9-6 overall) on Thursday, May 1st.