Coast Guard Academy Sports Roundup

A final attempt to put three points on the board for the Coast Guard Academy fell short in a football game against Worcester State University on Saturday, and the women's soccer team also couldn't overcome the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The volleyball team continued a winning streak, defeating Connecticut College and Endicott College. The following information was provided by Jason Southard, sports information director at the Coast Guard Academy:

Football: Worcester State 31, Coast Guard 30

For the second straight week, Coast Guard lost in heartbreaking fashion, this time a missed 43-yard field goal on the final play of the game was short, and Worcester State held to win a 31-30 shootout over Coast Guard in a New England Football Conference (NEFC) Bogan Division game, the final home game of the season for the Bears.

The Coast Guard defense came up big late in the fourth quarter for the second straight week. Junior Drew Russo intercepted senior quarterback Tony Tokarz in the end zone with 1:33 on fourth down to keep the deficit at 31-30.

Coast Guard took advantage of a pass interference call on fourth down and later a 23-yard pass from senior quarterback Jarrod Owens to senior Stephen Spotts moved the ball into Worcester State territory at the 44 yard line. Owens then hit Hames for 11 yards and Spotts again for seven yards with three seconds left setting up the 43-yard field goal on the final play of the game. The field goal was short and the Bears, who lost on a key fumble in the closing minutes last week, lost their fourth game of the season by single digits to drop to 1-6 overall and 1-4 in the NEFC Bogan Division. It is the first time since 1992 that the Bears have suffered four losses in a season by single digits, they lost five games like that in 1992.

Tokarz was 23 of 36 for 298 yards with four touchdowns including the eventual game winner, 49-yard strike to sophomore AJ Scerra on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Coast Guard opened the scoring on a whacky play. Worcester State tried a fake punt on its opening drive, but when there was no room to run, sophomore Alex Blakeslee then attempted an off balance punt which didn’t go very far and ended up in the hands of senior Nick Peters, who returned it 55 yards for a touchdown.

The Lancers got on the board on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Tokarz to senior Kenny Russell with 12 seconds left in the first quarter, the extra point was missed and the Bears led 7-6.

Worcester State dominated the first quarter running 29 plays to the Bears six and outgaining them 160-2 in total yards, yet they trailed.

Senior Jacob Shackleford’s 38-yard field goal with 12:31 left in the first half gave the Bears a 10-6 lead before senior Marcus Price had a 58-yard touchdown run to give Worcester State a 13-10 lead with 11:04 left in the half.

Owens threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Tyler Hames with 9:16 left in the half as the Bears regained the lead 17-13.

The Bears defense forced a three-and-out and freshman Jake Wawrzyniak capped an 11 play, 64-yard drive with a four-yard run as the Bears extended their lead to 24-13 with 3:23 left in the opening half.

Worcester State responded with an 11 play drive of their own covering 60 yards as Tokarz found Scerra for a four-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the half, the Lancers went for two nad the fun was failed making the score 24-19 at halftime.

The Lancers took the lead with 5:01 left in the third quarter on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tokarz to junior Justin DeAndrade, the two-point pass was failed and Worcester State led 25-24.

It took Coast Guard just over a minute to regain the lead as the speedy Hames scored on a 48-yard touchdown run, the Bears two-point pass failed and the score was 30-25 with 3:57 left in the third quarter.

Worcester State took the lead for good on its next possession as Tokarz hit Scerra for the 49-yard touchdown to cap the eight play, 76-yard drive.

The Lancers tried an onsides kick following the touchdown, they were called for illegal procedure and the Bears started with great field position at the Lancer s 42 yard line. On the second play, Owens was intercepted by senior Clifford Oratokhai in the end zone.

Worcester State took close to six minutes off the clock and drove the Coast Guard 14 before turning it over on downs, but Coast Guard went three-and-out and the Lancers took another five minutes off the clock before the Russo interception in the end zone.

The Lancers had 580 yards of total offense in the win, 298 passing and 282 rushing as Price led the way with 27 carries for 173 yards before leaving with an injury and freshman Kemani Jones had 16 carries for 82 yards replacing Price.

Russell led the Lancers with nine receptions for 119 yards and a score while Scerra had seven receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

Coast Guard finished with 364 yards of total offense, 175 passing and 189 rushing. Owens was 15 of 27 for 175 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Hames led the way on the ground with eight carries for 98 yards. Hames also led the Bears with five receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown while senior Stephen Spotts had five catches for 58 yards.

Junior Eric Gerken, the leading receiver in the NEFC, was held to just two receptions for ten yards.

Freshman Victor Rizzardi, junior Curt Barrett and junior Parker Bateson each had ten tackles to lead the Coast Guard defense while freshman linebacker Teddy Ferreira led the Lancers with five tackles.

Worcester State, which snapped a two-game losing streak and improves to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Bogan Division, ran 85 plays to Coast Guard’s 56 and dominated the time of possession 38:39 to 21:21.

Women's Soccer: MIT 2, Coast Guard 0

Sophomore Allison Park notched a goal and an assist in MIT’s 2-0 victory over the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in a NEWMAC women’s soccer game on Saturday afternoon.

The win lifted the Engineers’ ledger to 10-3-2 on the year, marking their third straight 10-win campaign and fifth during the last six years. In addition, MIT raised its conference record to 5-1-2 which resulted in fourth-year head coach Martin Desmarias becoming the program’s all-time leader in league victories.

The loss ended Coast Guard's hopes of a berth in the NEWMAC tournament, in which the top six teams quality. The Bears drop to 5-8-1 overall and 1-6-1 in conference play.

MIT wasted little time applying pressure on the Bears’ defense as it totaled five shots, three on goal, and two corner kicks during the first 15 minutes. Coast Guard netminder Mary Mills made a diving punch at freshman Elena Gianotas’s bending shot and then smothered a close-range strike by junior Merricka Livingstoneafter five minutes elapsed.

The Bears nearly capitalized on a miscue by the Engineers’ defense in the 14th minute. Avery Ayres sent a long feed into the box which was headed by a defender, but it spun backwards. Junior goalie Meghan Wright quickly swooped in to thwart the scoring attempt. On the counterattack, freshman Ambika Krishnamachar attempted to head the ball from the far side of the box, however it deflected off a defender towards the sideline. Park then sent a low 15-yard blast to the near post to put MIT on the board.

Mills came up with another athletic stop in the 27th minute, helping keep her squad in striking distance. From the far side, junior Leslie Meyer sent a cross to freshman Ashley Peter in the box who redirected it to fellow classmate Faith OBrian. She then tapped it to the near post where Mills made the diving grab.

Coast Guard almost had the equalizer late in the frame during a scramble just inside the top of the box. Wright came off her line to scoop up the ball but couldn’t hold on to it. Players from both sides attempted to gain possession; however, Wright pounced on the bouncing ball to end the threat.

Early in the second stanza, junior Stephanie Cooke sent a 25-yard strike to the far top corner which Mills snatched at full extension. Moments later, MIT increased its lead to 2-0 in the 55th minute.

Junior Emily Kuo and Park exchanged several passes up the near sideline before putting the ball on the foot of sophomore Rachel Dias Carlson. A quick touch from three yards in front of the net ricocheted off a defender into the goal.

The best opportunity for the Bears to end the shutout occurred in the 81st minute on a corner kick by Brittany Fifer taken from the near side. The feed dribbled through the box and emerged close to Micaela Baca who was unable to corral the ball and make a play on the open net.

Mills stymied the Engineers with another incredible stop in the 84th minute. Meyer sent a shot from the near side that managed to get past a pair of defenders. Mills initially moved to the middle of net but at the last moment she leapt towards the near post for the save.

In net, Wright turned away two shots for her eighth shutout of the season while Mills finished with 12 saves.

Volleyball

Junior Catherine Walker had 30 kills combined while junior Karen Matic had a triple-double in the win over cross-street rival and host as the Bears won a pair of matches to run their win streak to seven.

Coast Guard, which improved to 21-5 on the season, had to play from behind in both matches as the Bears dropped the opening set in each match.

The Bears beat Conn. College 3-1 after dropping the opening set 25-18, the Bears roared back winning 25-22, 25-17 and 27-25.

Matic had 34 assists, a career-high 14 kills and ten digs for the triple-double while Walker had 17 kills in the win.

Sophomore Kelsey DePorto added 12 kills and four aces while classmate Sam Marmolejo had a team-high 26 against the Camels.

Coast Guard, ranked sixth in New England, dropped the opening set 25-23 to Endicott before winning 25-14, 25-20 and 25-12 to complete the sweep.

Matic has huge once again for the Bears with 25 assists, nine kills and eight digs while Walker had 13 kills.

Junior Keriann Mason led the Bears with 18 digs and four aces vs. the Gulls.