Men's Soccer Defeated by Coast Guard

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Mitchell College men's soccer team fell to the Coast Guard Academy 7-2 on Wednesday evening at Nitchman Field in a non-conference match.

The Mariners (2-5-0) made the short trip across town to face the Bears, who entered play having won four of five games to begin their season.

Mitchell became the first team to score against Coast Guard men's soccer in the regular season since the Bears allowed one goal in a 2-1 victory against Wheaton on October 23, 2021.

John DiTommaso scored two first half goals and added a third in the second half to pace Coast Guard, who carried a 3-1 lead into halftime. It did not take long for the Bears offense to begin clicking, and after two quick goals by DiTommaso, Casey Savage made the score 3-0 min favor of the home team with a goal in the 27th minute. Mitchell would trim the early deficit to two when Matt Ladd set up Dylan Lucey for his third goal of the season 33 seconds before intermission. Lucey, the reigning NECC Player of the Week, now has scored a goal in each of the last two matches. 

The Bears wasted little time out of the break, as DiTommaso recorded his third goal five minutes into the second half and Noah Engstrom made it a 5-1 game in the 56th minute of play. Engstrom found the back of the net again shortly after in the 69th minute, while Casey Savage added an unassisted goal 10 minutes later to push the Coast Guard lead to six.

The Mariners would get one back, as Jeremy Gibbs converted a penalty kick in the final minutes of the contest. 

The Bears outshot Mitchell 20-4, tallying 10 shots on goal to just three for the Mariners. Coast Guard also dominated in corner kicks, totaling 13 opportunities and now allowing one to the visitors.

With a 2-2 record in their last four games, the Mariners will look to right the ship on Monday, September 26th, when they host Nichols College at Alumni Field.