NEW LONDON, Conn. —
After a Senior Day celebration and late start, Coast Guard came away victorious with a 1-0 win over Emerson. The Lions fall to 7-4-2 (0-2-1 NEWMAC). They will next travel to Salve Regina on Wednesday October 14th at 7:00 pm.
The first real opportunity came 10 minutes into the action when Andres Villasana (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) sent a centering pass towards Cole Miller (Annapolis, Md.) but a Lion defender was barely able to get a foot on to stop it. Just a minute later, Miller had a header on goal that was saved.
After 20 minutes of physical play, the Bears were the first to break through on a senior day connection between Kai Trager (San Clemente, Cal.) and Andres Villasana. After an Emerson yellow, Villasana bent a ball towards goal that tucked into the corner to give CGA a 1-0 lead.
With just under 12 to go in the half, the Bears nearly scored again when Oliver Perry (East Greenwich, R.I.) sent a perfect corner into the box but a punch-out by the keeper sent the opportunity away. The Bears got one more strong chance late in the half but the game when to the break at 1-0.
Early in the second, Ryan Gottschalk (Alpharetta, Ga.) made a great play to evade a defender and found Kai Trager who hammered a shot that sailed just high over goal.
In the 60th minute, Emerson got their first strong opportunity of the game with a rope high on goal but Samuel Linkous (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) made a leaping save to punch the shot away. Minutes later, a controversial yellow card on CGA gave the Lions a free kick just outside of the box but the Bear defensive wall stopped the attempt. After getting the ball to the other side of the field, Kai Trager intercepted a pass from an Emerson defender but missed just wide on a shot to the left.
As the game ticked under 20 minutes, Emerson put the pressure on after a corner with two shots both of which were blocked by Bear defenders. In the 75th minute, a cluster in front of the CGA goal spelled danger but the defense beared down and kept the ball from finding any Lions players in shooting position.
A corner with just under five remaining gave the Lions another good opportunity but again the Bears defense stepped up. On the following possession, Michael Porter (Baltimore, Md.) found himself with the ball in front of goal but kicked a frozen rope that grazed off the crossbar.
The Bears were able to hang on in the final minutes, taking the win on a final seconds last prayer at goal by Emerson for the 5th save of Linkous' day.
The win improves Coast Guard to 6-3-2 on the season, they will host #23 Conn College on Tuesday at 6:00 pm.
