NEW LONDON, Conn.—Senior Joao Araujo (Boca Raton, Fla.) scored the equalizer in the 64th minute to help visiting Babson College earn a 1-1 draw with the Coast Guard Academy in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's soccer action on Saturday afternoon at Nitchman Field. 

With the result, Babson (8-6-4, 4-2-2 NEWMAC) secured the second seed in next week's conference tournament. Coast Guard closes the regular season at 7-5-6 overall and 3-1-4 in league play and will be the third seed in the NEWMAC Tournament. 

Sophomore goalkeeper JB Montague (Lutz, Fla.) made four saves for the Beavers, who finished with a 13-8 edge in shots and attempted four of the five corner kicks in the match. 

Sophomore Nick Yorgason (Pleasant View, Utah) had a goal and senior Aki Freeman (San Diego, Calif.) picked up an assist for the Bears. Senior goalkeeper Jack Putman (Halfmoon, N.Y.) made seven of his eight saves over the final 45 minutes. 

Montague made three of his four saves in the first half and got some help when junior Alexander Yablonovskiy (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) cleared a ball that deflected past him out of the goal mouth following a free kick in the 10th minute. Coast Guard took the lead in the 51st minute following a defensive miscue by Babson allowing Freeman to slip a pass to Yorgason, who drilled his shot past the on-coming Montague for his first goal of the year. 

Putnam was handcuffed by a 25-yard blast by Beavers' junior Titus Charles (San Tan Valley, Ariz.) before the loose ball was cleared out of danger in the 58th minute, and made a terrific diving save to push away Araujo's rocket that was headed towards the upper right corner from the top of the box in the 63rd minute. The Green and White kept the ball in its offensive third over the next 90 seconds and Araujo was taken down with his back to goal inside the box to set up the tying goal. Putnam denied the penalty kick but the rebound popped out to the edge of the six-yard box and Araujo touched the loose ball home to level the score. 

Putnam made a pair of saves over the final 25 minutes and Montague came off his line in the waning seconds to punch away a last-gasp free kick by Coast Guard to preserve the draw. 

Babson will host either third-seeded Coast Guard or sixth-seeded Springfield in a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal on Thursday at 1 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 43-9-9 all-time against Coast Guard and tied back-to-back matches on the road in the series. 
•    Saturday's result preserved a run of seven consecutive top-two finishes in the NEWMAC regular season standings going back to 2018. 
•    Babson is now 8-4-3 this season when allowing one goal or fewer. 
•    The Green and White now 3-3-3 away from home this fall.