NEW LONDON, CT —
Friday, September 11th, Coast Guard Academy hosted rival Merchant Marine Academy. This heated contest ended in a 2-2 draw.
Following this draw, the Bears are now 1-1-2. The Mariners are still winless after their first two games of the season as their record is now 0-0-2.
Before the match, everyone in attendance joined together in a moment of silence to remember everyone who lost their life 25 years ago in New York.
Kickoff was underway shortly after, and Coast Guard jumped on the scoresheet first in the 2nd minute. The Bears got an early corner and was taken short to Annabelle Pezzullo (Ashaway, R.I.) whipped in a cross that found
Ella Pottle (Epping, N.H.) at the back post to tap it home to give Coast Guard a 1-0 lead.
The Mariners were not going away easily as they started to find their offensive rhythm working passes through the Bears' defense. In the 17th minute, a through ball found Hailey Catolico in the box with only the keeper to beat and she tied the game at 1 goal each.
This game became quite physical after this goal, as there were 11 fouls total in the first half. Both sides got a lot of opportunities, as Coast Guard had 11 shots and Merchant Marine shot 5 times.
In the second half, the game continued to be physical as there were another combined 11 fouls, despite no players receiving cards.
Coast Guard managed to break the tie in the 61st minute when
Bella Brittain (Manassas, Va.) stepped up to take a free kick. She took it cool, calm, and collected as she struck the ball just over the keepers' head and bounced in off the crossbar to give the Bears a 2-1 lead.
Merchant Marine would not leave with a loss as they continued to win the ball back and kept pressuring Coast Guard's defense. In the 90th minute, they broke through with an identical goal to their first as they managed to send a through ball into the box for a 1v1 with the keeper. Just like the first goal, it found the back of the net for a 2-2 draw.
With the tie, Coast Guard remains ahead by one(1-0-1) in the 2026-27 USAA Superintendents Trophy standings. Another point will be determined tomorrow, with men's soccer hosting KP at 12:00 pm.
The Bears will be back at home Wednesday night for another non-conference matchup vs Wentworth. This game is set to kickoff at 6pm EST.
