NEW LONDON, Conn. —
Sophomore forward
Eric Howard (Dunkirk, Md.) and senior back
Kai Trager (San Clemente, Calif.) both found net to help the United States Coast Guard Academy men's soccer team to a 2-0 mid-week victory over Western New England University on Tuesday night at Nitchman Field.
Coast Guard improves to 5-2-1 on the back of their third win in a row, while WNEU drops to 2-4-3. The Golden Bears will look to bounce back on Saturday, the 3rd, in Conference of New England action at University of New England (3-5-2).
A first half went without either team able to get on the scoreboard. Coast Guard mustered just two shots during the first 45 minutes, while senior goalkeeper
Samuel Linkous (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) made two saves amidst the Golden Bears' five tries. Eight fouls were called within the first 15 minutes, with WNEU being awarded the first yellow card of the game after a hard challenge by a Golden Bears defender.
It took seven minutes for the Bears two break the stalemate in the second half. The hosts won a free kick in the 53rd and senior forward
Jake Fish (Little Silver, N.J.) was looking to take the WNEU defense off guard. He trotted up and casually tapped it in front of junior midfielder
Oliver Perry (East Greenwich, R.I.), who played it forward to a sprinting Fish along the left side of the box. The senior crossed it into Howard at the front of the box, who received it and fired a one-bounce volley into the back of the net. The sophomore celebrated his first goal of the season with a backflip.
Coast Guard was able to add to their lead just over a minute later. The Bears got a big break off of a great ball from senior midfielder
Cole Miller (Annapolis, Md.) upfield to freshman midfielder
Ryan Gottschalk (Alpharetta, Ga.), who weaved into the Golden Bears' box before being bowled over within its confines on a hard challenge by a chasing WNEU defender. Coast Guard was awarded a penalty kick and elected to send Trager to the spot. His initial attempt to the bottom left was stopped on a great dive by the keeper, but the Bears' senior was able to beat all other players for the rebound volley. The score was the first of Trager's collegiate career.
Despite the two-goal deficit, WNEU played hard for the rest of the night. Linkous made four saves in the final 11 minutes, bringing his total stops on the night to a career-high six. The Golden Bears held advantages of 19-10 in total shots and 10-1 on corner kicks, while the Bears were called for 18 fouls to the visiting side's ten. The second half saw four more yellow cards awarded, with three going against WNEU.
Coast Guard men's soccer returns to action on Saturday, the 3rd, hosting Worcester Polytechnic Institute (0-4-4, 0-0-1) for an 11:30 AM kick-off on Homecoming Weekend. The Bears defeated WPI in last season's match-up, 2-1, after Miller scored the deciding goal in the 89th minute.
