Sports: Conn College beats Coast Guard in men’s lacrosse, 9-8

New London — Connecticut College and Coast Guard Academy met for the first time in men's lacrosse action on Tuesday night.

Let's just say a riveting rivalry was born.

The outcome of the entertaining, high intensity game wasn't decided until late, as PJ Kelleher set up fellow junior Jordan Foster for the game-winning goal with 13 seconds remaining, lifting the 20th-ranked Camels to a thrilling 9-8 victory at Silfen Field.

Conn College (7-1) showed its grit by rallying from a 6-2 deficit.

"I don't know if I'm convinced the team that won the game really should have," Conn coach Dave Cornell said. "They really outplayed us and showed hustle and tenacity. Fighting back, we showed character that hasn't really been in this program for the last three or four years.

"It was just so unbelievable to see. I'm so proud of them."

Cornell has great respect for the Coast Guard program and coach Ray LaForte. He figured the Camels were in for a fight due to the fact the Bears knocked off nationally-ranked Wesleyan in overtime earlier this month.

Kelleher and his teammates were prepared, too.

"We knew it was going to be a heck of a battle and they weren't going to give up to the final whistle," said Kelleher, who finished with a team-high four goals and four assists. "It definitely was that way."

The game featured several momentum and emotional swings.

The Bears (5-2) roared out to a 6-2 lead behind goals from Jack Pope (2), Riley McNulty, Will Iorio, Ian Logan and Matty Johnson. McNulty also added three assists.

Then the Camels made some adjustments and started to control the time of possession.

They scored six straight goals, with Foster's first goal of the game tying the score at 6-6 with 13 minutes left. Kelleher struck again and then set up Ryan Fish's goal for an 8-6 edge with 5:44 left.

"We didn't get the 50-50 calls on the field and it gave momentum to Connecticut College," LaForte said. "We just had to play too many defensive stands consecutively and it caught us." The game appeared over. But the Bears settled down and regained their scoring touch. Junior Anthony Wyler fought off defenders and scored in traffic with 2:19 remaining.

Then senior Matt Huemme fired in the game-tying goal with 45 seconds remaining.

Senior Ben Parens won the crucial face-off and Cornell called timeout. The Camels executed their play to perfection.

Kelleher found a cutting Foster for the game-winner.

"We actually scored on a similar play earlier in the game," Kelleher said. "My linemate Jordan came over and said we should do the same thing. We scripted it up and it just worked perfectly."

New rivalry

Cornell and LaForte agreed that the new rivalry is good for both programs and should continue.

"I love it," LaForte said. "I want to play to Wesleyan, Conn College and Trinity every year. I see no reason why we don't. We're within an hour of each other . ... Those would be nice nonleague games for us.

"It's a great game for both teams," Cornell said. "The challenge is trying to fit it in to the schedule. Ray's doing a tremendous job there, obviously. He's a good guy . ... After walking off the field, I feel a lot better about the direction the country is going when you see those guys. They're awesome." g.keefe@theday.com

TIM MARTIN/THE DAY Coast Guard’s Colin Cashin, front, and Ben Parens of Connecticut College attempt to gain control of the ball during a first half face-off in Tuesday night’s men’s lacrosse match at Conn’s Silfen Field. Conn College won 9-8.

TIM MARTIN/THE DAY Coast Guard’s Ryan Gochar, front, retains control of the ball after getting checked by Connecticut College’s PJ Kelleher, left, and Maxx Trotsky during the first half of Tuesday night’s men’s lacrosse match at Conn’s Silfen Field. Kelleher had four...