MONTCLAIR, N.J. –
In the season opener for Coast Guard women's soccer, the Bears fell 0-2 at the hands of Montclair State. They will look to notch their first victory tomorrow when they travel to Allentown, Pennsylvania to face Muhlenberg College.
Montclair State jumped ahead early when a centering pass from
Isabell Kronow(Branchburg, NJ) found
Kylie Prendergast(Livingston, NJ) by herself right in front of the goal. Prendergast buried the ball into the net to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
Forced to play from behind, the Bears got their first opportunity of the day on a free kick near the box at the 11 minute mark but the Montclair defense stood strong to keep CGA from scoring. They got another free kick at the 14 minute mark which looked good off the foot of
Mia Forti(Durham, CT) but sailed just wide of the goal.
Lulu Vlases(Bozeman, MT) got the first shot on goal for Coast Guard 20 minutes into the game but Montclair State's goalkeeper
Salange Bell(Montclair, NJ) was able to secure it. Bell would finish with two saves for the Hawks in her 9th career shutout.
With 10 minutes to go in the half,
Julia Little(Pensacola, FL) made a clutch save to avoid going down two. Playing all 90 minutes, Little made five saves in total today.
The first half was a strong defensive effort with both teams knocking the rust off in their first game of the season. The Bears and Hawks combined for just six shots, three on goal.
In the second, both teams got more opportunities going on offense. In the 54th minute, the Bears got their best opportunity yet when
Mia Forti sent a shot just over the cross bar, nearly tying the score at 1-1. Forti, one of the Bears captains, played 84 minutes and was all over the field making plays all game long. In the 60th, 67th, and 72nd minutes, Montclair State had strong opportunities at the goal but Little and the Bears defense sent all opportunities away. Again, in the 78th minute, MSU appeared to have their second goal but it scurried just wide of the net to keep the score at 1-0.
Julia Little made two saves to keep the score where it was but the Bears offense was unable to get anything rolling.
In the 85th minute, the dagger came for Montclair State with an
Isabella Kronow goal. That 2-0 score would hold for the final five minutes.
Montclair State will look to keep their momentum off of their 1-0 start hosting another New England school on Sunday at 2:00 pm, with Johnson & Wales coming to town.
