Men's Soccer Falls 3-1 to Coast Guard

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's soccer team fell 3-1 to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at Alumni Field.

John Rendon scored twice to lead the Bears (9-3-1 overall), including the game-winning goal late in the first half. Coast Guard stretched its unbeaten streak to seven games and is 6-0-1 during that stretch.

Rendon scored the game's first goal in the 13th minute following a corner kick by Matthew Bogdan. Mitchell goalkeeper Ramazan Sinani was taken down in the fray in front of the net on the corner, and the ball punched out to Rendon near the top of the 18. With the keeper out of the picture, Rendon took advantage and buried a shot to put the Bears up 1-0.

Mitchell answered back just over five minutes later when sophomore Frank Williams drew a foul in the box and the Mariners were awarded a penalty kick. Senior Michael Berthiaume stepped up to finish off the penalty for his third goal of the season.

The scored remained tied at 1-1 until Rendon struck again in the 44th minute for his third tally of the season. He scored on a free kick from outside the box on the left side and beat Sinani to the near post. Coast Guard took the 2-1 lead into the halftime intermission and never trailed again.

The Bears added an insurance goal in the opening minutes of the second stanza. A Mitchell foul deep in its own defensive end led to Bogdan sending a free kick into the middle of the box, where John Tarzian connected on a header for the 3-1 advantage. It was his fourth goal of the season.

Coast Guard held a 22-3 advantage in shots and an 11-1 edge in shots on goal. Sinani finished with eight saves in the loss.

Mitchell resumes conference play at home against Newbury College on Tuesday, October 16 at 1:30 p.m.