Coast Guard Academy Sports Roundup

The Coast Guard Academy wrapped up its regular soccer and volleyball seasons on Friday with wins over the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a loss to Wheaton College. The Bears also lost to Framingham State University. The following information was provided by Jason Southard, sports information director at the Coast Guard Academy:

Football: Framingham State 14, Coast Guard 7

Sophomore running back Melikke Van Alstyne carried 39 times for 180 yards and two touchdowns as the Framingham State University football team clinched its first ever New England Football Conference (NEFC) Bogan Division title with a 14-7 win over Coast Guard on a bitter cold, windy and rainy day at Maple Street Field.

With the win, Framingham improves to 7-2 overall and 6-0 in the Bogan Division, while Coast Guard dropped its fifth game this season by seven points or less as they are now 1-7 overall and 1-5 in the division.

With his 180 yards in the game, Van Alstyne established a new FSU single season rushing mark as he now has 1,399 yards on the season which surpasses the previous single season best of 1,373 which was set a season ago by Dave Leach.

The Rams scored on the opening drive of the game as Van Alstyne capped a nine-play, 56 yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown run. Framingham State missed the extra point and led 6-0 with 10:28 left in the first quarter.

Coast Guard took the lead late in the second quarter when backup quarterback junior Jon Resch threw a 30-yard touchdown to senior Stephen Spotts. Senior Jacob Shackleford added the extra point giving the Bears the 7-6 lead.

In difficult conditions, both team has 119 yards of total offense in the first half with Coast Guard accumulating 72 yards passing and 47 yards rushing. The Rams picked up the bulk of their yards in the first half on the ground (89) and only 30 yards through the air.

The Rams took their first possession of the second half and drove 54 yards in six plays to regain the lead for good. The Rams ran a reverse on their first play of the half and sophomore Tyrone Figueroa picked up 18 yards. Van Alstyne carried the ball the remainder of the drive eventually scoring his second touchdown of the game, this one from 15-yards out, on a 4th and one. The Rams went for two and Van Alstyne barreled into the end zone giving the Rams a 14-7 lead with 10:29 remaining in the third.

After a short kickoff, Coast Guard answered with a six play, 33 yard drive that set Shackleford up for a 32-yard field goal. He missed wide right keeping the Rams lead at seven.

Junior corner Tyrone Notice had interceptions on two of the Bears next four drives, but the Rams were unable to sustain a drive giving Coast Guard one last chance to tie the game.

The Bears took over possession with 3:08 remaining in the game. Facing a 4th and one on their own 23 yard line senior Jarrod Owens rushed for seven yards giving the Bears a new set of downs. On the very next play Owens completed a 36-yard pass to Spotts down the middle giving the Bears a first down on the Rams 34 yard line with 1:33 remaining.

Freshman Rob Staub sacked Owens for a six yard loss on first down and a pair of incompletions put the Bears in a 4th and long with 1:01 on the clock. The Rams were called for pass interference on the play giving the Bears a new set of downs.

Framingham’s defense came up with the big plays once again in the final minute as freshman Olajuwon Dickerson deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage and Notice tackled Jake Wawrzyniak short of the first down marker on fourth down to secure the victory.

The Rams finished the game with 214 yards of total offense, while the Bears finished with 210. The Rams rushed for 163 yards and threw for just 51, while the Bears had more success in the air throwing for 123 yards and rushing for just 87.

Spotts led the Bears with five receptions for 91 yards while Tyler Hames led Coast Guard with 15 carries and 65 yards in the loss.

Owens was 6 of 18 for 68 yards with two interceptions while Resch was 7 of 16 for 55 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

The Bears defense was led by David Britten and John Manganiello who each has 11 tackles, while Nick Peters picked up 10.

Men's Soccer: Coast Guard 2, WPI 1

Sophomore John Epperly scored his third goal of the season in the 57th minute breaking the scoreless tie that lasted better than ten minutes into the second half as Coast Guard beat WPI 2-1 in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match.

Senior Brett Godiksen added an insurance goal on a corner kick in the 80th minute giving Godiksen his team leading tenth goal on the season.

Coast Guard and WPI battled through a grueling rain drenched first half that only saw three shots apiece for each team, none finding the back of a net.

Sophomore midfielder John Rendon assisted Epperly's goal in the 57th minute good for Rendon’s third assist of the season and giving the Bears the 1-0 lead over the Engineers.

Godiksen’s goal in the 80th minute added to the Coast Guard lead by bending a corner kick into the back of the Engineers’ net.

Junior Will Leffler played the entire 90 minutes goal for the Bears making three saves for his second win of the year.

WPI scored in the final minute to ruin the shutout for the Bears.

With the loss the WPI Engineers fall to a 9-7 overall record and a 3-3 NEWMAC record.

The Bears end the season with the victory to improve to a 6-9-1 overall record and a 1-4-1 NEWMAC record.

Women's College: Wheaton 9, Coast Guard 0

Junior Kiersten Luber and sophomore Abby Tobin each scored two goals in Wheaton College's 9-0 shutout of Coast Guard on Senior Day in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's soccer action Saturday afternoon at a rainy Mirrione Stadium.

Ranked fourth in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) - New England Region poll, the Lyons improved to 15-2-3 on the season and 13-1-2 in their last 15 matches.

The win secures the No. 2 seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament for Wheaton and a bye into the semifinals next Saturday at top-seeded Springfield. The Lyons (15-2-3, 7-1-1 NEWMAC) will face the winner of the No. 3 MIT/No. 6 Wellesley match at 3 p.m. The win also secured the 13th consecutive season Wheaton has reached the 15-win plateau under head coach Luis Reis.

Senior Kaitlyn Mawicke recorded a goal and an assist for the Lyons, giving her 11 points (4-3-11) in her last seven matches. Luber, Tobin, senior Jessica Stuart and junior Samantha Cronin each scored their first goals of the season.

The Lyons built a 3-0 lead in the opening 18:46 behind goals from Bennett at 10:27, Luber at 12:25, and Mawicke at 18:46. They outshot the Bears (5-10-1, 1-7-1 NEWMAC) 22-1 through the first half and led 6-0 at the break.

Wheaton finished with a 33-5 edge in shots and an 8-1 edge in corners. Senior Lindsay Leddy finished with one save to earn her 14th win of the season, giving her sole possession of eighth-place on the school's single-season wins list. Classmate Amy Cawley came on in relief of Leddy early in the second half and finished with two saves.

Senior Mary Mills started in goal for the Bears and recorded 10 saves. Sophomore Devin Fellman played the final 3:55 in goal for Coast Guard.

Volleyball: Coast Guard 3, MIT 2

Junior Keriann Mason had 12 kills, 21 digs and two aces leading Coast Guard to a 3-2 win over MIT in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match, the regular season finale for both teams.

Coast Guard clinched the second seed and a first round bye in next week's NEWMAC tournament with the win. The Bears won their ninth straight improving to 23-5 overall and 8-1 in conference play. MIT, which will be the fourth-seed in the tournament drops to 22-10 overall and 6-3 in conference play.

The Bears won by game scores of 21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 15-25 and 15-12.

Sophomore Kelsey DePorto had ten kills and two aces for the Bears, freshman Kelsey Hickle added nine kills while junior Karen Matic finished with seven kills and a team-high 32 assists.

Coast Guard will take on the winner of #3 Wellesley vs. #6 Babson in the NEWMAC tournament semifinals on Saturday at 3:30 at top-seeded Springfield.

The NEWMAC tournament championship match will be on Sunday at 1:00 at Springfield.