LAX Falls to Coast Guard 11-5

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Behind four goals and an assist from Justin Huemme, the Coast Guard Academy men's lacrosse team cruised to an 11-5 victory over Mitchell College on Wednesday afternoon in non-conference play at Alumni Field.

Louis DePaolis and Pat Dreiss the Bears (2-7 overall) captured the first varsity meeting between the two programs. DePaolis also recorded a pair of assists in the contest while Trent Moon, Matt Huemme and TJ Varley all chipped in with goals.

Jordan Cook and Tyler Desances each scored twice to pace the Mariners (4-5 overall). Evan Gennell also tallied a goal while A.J. Fialkowski finished with a pair of helpers. 

The Mariners got off to a quick start as consecutive goals by Cook in the opening 7:15 yielded a 2-0 advantage. However, the Bears scored the final four goals of the quarter and never looked back. Justin Huemme netted a pair in the stanza while Matt Huemme potted the go-ahead score with the man-advantage.

Dreiss scored both of his goals in the second quarter as Coast Guard outscored Mitchell 4-1 in the period. Justin Huemme's third goal capped the first-half scoring and gave the Bears an 8-3 lead at intermission.

After Varley scored the only goal of the third quarter, Justin Huemme struck again off a feed from DePaolis to give the Bears their largest lead at 10-3 with 11:49 remaining. Later in the stanza, Mitchell had a chance to cut into the deficit thanks to a two-minute locked-in penalty, and Desances cashed in off a pass from Fialkowski. Desances potted his second of the game just over a minute later as the Mariners pulled to within 10-5, but DePaolis quickly answered for the Bears to end any hope of a comeback.

Kurt Caminske made eight saves in goal for Coast Guard to pick up his first career victory. Nick Chicoine also had a huge game at the face-off spot, winning 16 of 19 attempts while scooping up a game-high 15 ground balls. 

Mitchell goalie JD LeMay finished with seven saves against 27 shots. Maximilian Crowley and Brian Jordan each caused four turnovers and combined for 12 ground balls.

Mitchell will next play at Mount Ida College on Saturday, April 11 at 1 p.m. Coast Guard returns to action at home against Wheaton College on Saturday at 1 p.m.