CGA women nip Wheaton, earn NEWMAC tourney home game
Mitchell’s Still captures NECC men’s XC crown
Norton, Mass. — It was a day of firsts for the Coast Guard Academy women's soccer program.
The Bears beat Wheaton College for the first time, won 10 matches in a single season for the first time, and earned the right to host their first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference postseason tournament match.
Rachel Samotis helped make all three things possible when her goal in the 72nd minute broke a 1-1 tie and lifted Coast Guard to a 2-1 victory over Wheaton on Sunday in the NEWMAC regular-season finale for both teams.
Wheaton (11-6-1, 4-6), was 20-01 with 20 shutouts all-time against the Bears before Sunday, but the win vaulted Coast Guard (10-6-1, 6-3-1) to the fourth seed and a first-round NEWMAC tournament game at home on Tuesday night at 7 against No. 5 WPI. Coast Guard beat the Engineers 2-1 in their only regular-season meeting.
The Bears trailed Wheaton 1-0 at halftime before junior Claire Hurley of Waterford tied the game in the 61st minute with her team-leading 10th goal of the season. Samotis broke the tie 11 minutes later.
Freshman goalie Katharina Commins made two saves for Coast Guard, which held a 17-11 edge in shots.
College cross country
• Mitchell College's David Still, a New London High graduate, captured the New England Collegiate Conference men's championship at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass. Still ran a season-best time of 28:39 over the 8k course, finishing 48 seconds ahead of the field of 43 runners. He earned all-conference honors for the third straight year and was named NECC Runner of the Year. Also earning AllNECC honors was Mark Garceau, who placed seventh in 29:59. Dean won the team title with 48 points and Mitchell was fifth with 92.
In the women's race, the Mariners' Kate McCormack placed ninth overall in 23:08 to earn All-NECC honors and lead Mitchell to a sixth place finish with 111 points. Elms edged Lesley for the team title, 53-61.
Men's soccer
• Seventh-seeded Hamilton College upset No. 2 Connecticut College 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference tournament at Harkness Field. The Camels (12-2-2) will now put their fan in the hands of the NCAA committee and will have to wait a week to see if they land an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III tournament.
Hamilton broke a scoreless time in the 58th minute when Roth Wetzel took a short pass from Aidan Wood and rifled a low shot just inside the left post to beat Conn goalie AJ Marcucci. The Camels held an 21-7 edge in shots, but Thomas Benson made eight saves for the Continentals (96-1), who avenged a 1-0 loss to Conn during the regular season.
• Old Lyme's William Ferguson scored an unassisted goal in the 58th minute to lift Mitchell to a 1-0 victory over Lesley in the NECC. The Mariners (8-8, 6-2) clinched the No. 2 seed for the upcoming NECC tournament and will host a semifinal game on Friday. Goalie Seth Strader, a Norwich Free Academy graduate, made two saves to earn the shutout.
• Coast Guard ended its season with a 3-0 loss to Babson in the NEWMAC. Dakota Harich made three saves in goal in the first half for the Bears (6-9-3, 1-5-1) and James Morrison stopped two shots in the second half.
• SMU snapped UConn's 10-match unbeaten streak with a 2-0 American Athletic Conference victory over the No. 8 Huskies in the final regular-season home match in Morrone Stadium history. UConn (10-3-2, 3-1-2) held a 12-10 edge in shots, but the Mustangs (8-4-2, 4-1-1) took control by scoring a pair of second-half goals.
College field hockey
• Cecile Pieper scored three goals while Svea Boker had two goals and two assists to lead No. 4 UConn to a 5-1 win over American University in the regular-season finale. The Huskie s (16-3) will be the top-seed in the Big East Conference tournament and will play No. 4 Villanova in Friday's semifinals at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.