SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's soccer team flirted twice with a loss on Tuesday, but ultimately extended their unbeaten streak to five straight games with a 2-2 draw at Western New England University.

A late goal for the hosts put Coast Guard behind, 1-2, with less than ten minutes to go before Jack Lopez (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) scored an 83rd minute equalizer with some help from Aki Freeman (San Diego, Calif.).

The Bears move to 5-2-3, while WNEU moves to 3-6-1. The Golden Bears are off until Saturday, when they'll play host to Conference of New England rivals Roger Williams University (6-0-3).

The 17th minute saw the hosts take the game's first advantage off the head of Ben Riley, set up by a great cross from Jayden Montagna, but Coast Guard was able to tie it 15 minutes later. After a corner kick lob was knocked away by a WNEU defender, Cole Miller (Annapolis, Md.) swooped in from outside of the box to lob another try, where Aidan Miles (Tampa, Fla.) utilized his cranium to bounce it past the Golden Bears' keeper for his team-leading third goal of the season.

The Golden Bears controlled the ball for most of the first half, a factor that showed on the stat sheets by way of a ludicrous 17 shot attempts. Starting goalkeeper Jack Putnam (Halfmoon, N.Y.) saved six shots despite the heavy mid-week workload during the first 45 minutes.

Controversy struck in the second half after a WNEU player clipped Connor Hickey (Portsmouth, Maine), who subbed in at goal for Putnam to start the period, while the Bears sophomore went to deter a cross into the box from Montagna. Hickey was injured on the play, and the head referee signaled for a penalty despite the clear intent to play the ball from the Mainer. After Hickey was attended to by the on-site trainer and replaced in net by Samuel Linkous (Gulf Breeze, Fla.), the head ref waved off the penalty kick to the disbelief of the Golden Bears players and supporters.

WNEU eventually regained their upper hand after almost 50 minutes of stalemate. A long goal kick was won by the Golden Bears and they took advantage, quickly advancing up the field through Coast Guard's back line and into the box. The initial shot by Nick Edward was stopped on a dive by Linkous, but Riley was right there to take advantage of the open net rebound and give the hosts a late lead and his second goal of the day.

But the jubilation was short lived thanks to Lopez. After a big chance for the Bears less than a minute later punched away by WNEU's keeper and cleared by the defense, Coast Guard won the ball back in little time and sent one into the box. Freeman pulled the goalie off of his stance with a fake shot into a pass to Lopez, who sent it past the off-balance keeper to tie it at two-all. Speaking of two, it was the second goal of Lopez's career.

Although WNEU seemed to have the upper hand again in time of possession for the second half, Coast Guard did well to limit their antics to just ten shot attempts; Linkous saved three. The Bears, unsurprisingly, had a 7-27 disadvantage in shots by the game's end, with both of the blue and orange side's goals being the only ones on target and undeterred by an outfield presence. WNEU also held the lead in corners by a 7-1 factor and were whistled for nine fouls to the Bears' ten, but the Golden Bears had more serious offenses down the stretch and were awarded three yellow cards in comparison to just one for Coast Guard.

Bears men's soccer is back in action on Saturday, facing a NEWMAC away day at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (3-2-3, 0-0-1). Coast Guard was triumphant in last season's meeting, delivering a 2-0 Senior Day victory over the Engineers thanks to a goal by Freeman and the first career score for Lopez.