NEW LONDON, Conn.— The U.S. Coast Guard Academy scored six consecutive goals to end the third quarter and begin the fourth, and the Bears held off a late rally by No. 18 Babson College for an 11-9 victory in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's lacrosse regular season finale Saturday afternoon at Cadet Memorial Field.

With the loss, the Beavers had their five-game conference winning streak snapped and wind up the regular season at 11-5 overall and 5-2 in the NEWMAC. Coast Guard ends the regular season with a two-game winning streak and a 9-5 overall record, 4-3 in the conference.

Sophomore Seamus Rooney (Bay Shore, N.Y.) scored three goals and graduate students Jacob Tauss (San Marcos, Calif.) and Topher Barlow (Chicago, Ill.) finished with two goals and an assist each. Sophomore Camden Matthews (Westford, Mass.) scored twice, junior Will Reading (Southlake, Texas) scooped up seven ground balls after winning 9-of-19 face-offs, and senior Brendan Maher (Melrose, Mass.) caused three turnovers and grabbed four ground balls. Senior Alex Fascilla (Huntington, N.Y.) made 11 saves in goal in the setback.

First-year Ezekiel Christian (Stonington, Conn.) tallied two goals and two assists and senior Ryan Hunter (Bethesa, Md.) contributed a goal and a game-high three assists for the Bears. Junior Patrick Smith (Leesburg, Va.) and first-year Nolan Grizzle (Severna Park, Md.) added two goals and an assist each, sophomore Max Silver (Jupiter, Fla.) chipped in with a pair of goals, and sophomore Mason Tucker (Alpharetta, Ga.) collected six ground balls after winning 8-of-20 face-offs. Senior Oliver Bolton (Darien, Conn.) caused three turnovers and picked up five ground balls, and sophomore Brett Tobasky (Brookline, Mass.) made 14 saves in goal in the victory.

The Beavers took a 4-0 lead in the first quarter after Matthews, Tauss and Rooney found the back of the net in the opening four minutes and Rooney added his second of the game with just under five minutes to go in the frame. Smith put the Bears on the board with 1:39 left in the first, and the hosts pulled even with the first three goals of the second quarter, one each by Christian, Silver and first-year Ryder Bonser (Spring Branch, Tex.), the last of which tied it at 4-4 with 6:35 remaining in the second.

Bower scored a late goal in the second quarter to put the Beavers ahead at halftime, and Matthews gave the Green and White a two-goal lead early in the third. Hunter scored to pull the Bears back to within one at 6-5 before Bower fired in a man-up marker with four minutes to go in the third.

Coast Guard would not go away quietly. Smith brought the Bears to within one again, 7-6, with a minute left in the third, and a five-goal burst in a four-minute span early in the fourth put the Bears ahead for good, 11-7, with 8:28 to play. Grizzle had two goals in the surge and Silver, Christian and sophomore Eric Key (Clarksville, Md.) added one each.

Tauss stopped the bleeding with 3:10 to go with his second of the game, and Rooney put one in a minute later but the clock ran out on a Babson comeback.
The Green and White had a 42-38 advantage in shots and a slim 12-11 margin in face-off wins. Coast Guard won the ground ball battle, 25-23, and converted 2-of-3 man-up situations while holding Babson to just one goal in five tries.

Babson will be the second seed in next week's NEWMAC Tournament and will host third-seeded MIT on Thursday at MacDowell Field. Fourth-seeded Salve Regina will host fifth-seeded Coast Guard in a quarterfinal match-up on Tuesday in Newport, R.I.

GAME NOTES
• Babson had a three-game winning streak against Coast Guard snapped but still holds a 7-4 all-time lead against the Bears in a series that dates back to 2015.
• Rooney extended his point streak to 16 games and has finished with at least one goal in 14 outings.
• The Beavers lost for just the second time in 51 games going back to the start of the 2020 season when leading after three quarters.