BABSON PARK, Mass.—First-year Ryan Gottschalk (Alpharetta, Ga.) notched the tying goal in the 72nd minute and added the decisive goal in the shootout as the fourth-seeded Coast Guard Academy outlasted top-seeded Babson College 5-4 in penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal on Friday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
Babson, which extended its unbeaten streak to seven matches, is now 10-2-6 on the season. The Beavers entered the day at No. 29 in the NPI rankings and must wait until Monday to see if they earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Coast Guard, which is now 9-6-4, punched its ticket to the NEWMAC Tournament final for the first time in program history.
Senior
Titus Charles (San Tan Valley, Ariz.) provided a goal, while classmate
McKenzy Pierre (West Orange, N.J.) and junior
Phillip Finch (La Jolla, Calif.) each had an assist for the Beavers, who got two saves from first-year
Braeden Condit (Denver, Colo.). Finch, seniors
Will Lloyd (Lexington, Mass.) and
Luca Tusche (Montville, N.J.), and sophomore
Adam Stetson (Granby, Mass.) all converted a penalty kick.
Senior Kai Trager (San Clemente, Calif.) assisted on Gottschalk's second half goal and also buried a penalty kick along with classmate Jake Fish (Little Silver, N.J.), junior James Von Dyl (San Diego, Calif.) and senior Michael Porter (Baltimore, Md.). Senior goalkeeper Samuel Linkous (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) finished with six saves over 110 minutes and made one more in the shootout.
The sides combined for just one shot on goal in the first half before the Green and White put Coast Guard under pressure early in the second half. Sophomore
Connor Hanrahan (Naperville, Ill.) ran onto a long ball by first-year
Samuel Lawrence (Wellesley, Mass.) but had his shot smothered by Linkous, who came charging off his line, before touching the rebound just wide of the left post in the 51st minute.
Senior
Alexander Yablonovskiy (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) sent a header just wide of the near post off a corner kick in the 59th minute before the Beavers went ahead on Charles' first goal of the season at the 66:55 mark. Finch played Pierre into the box and Charles buried a left-footed finish inside the left post.
Coast Guard pulled level just under five minutes later though, as Trager slipped a pass toward the six-yard box for Gottschalk, who beat Condit with a finish inside the left post for his second goal of the year. Charles saw his bid to put Babson back in front roll inches wide of the left post in the 78th minute, while Gottschalk forced a diving save from Condit just over a minute later.
The Beavers had three chances to take the lead late in regulation, but Linkous made a diving save on Hanrahan's shot from the top of the box in the 80th minute and punched a blast by Lloyd out of danger with just over 30 seconds remaining. Yablonovskiy also sailed a 22-yard free kick over the frame in the 82nd minute. Coast Guard was reduced to 10 men when senior Naveen Jayareem (Tampa, Fla.) received a second yellow card in the 92nd minute, but the visitors held on to force penalties and buried all five spot kicks to reach the NEWMAC final for the first time in school history.
The Beavers finished with a 21-10 edge in shots and also attempted five of the seven corner kicks in a match that featured a combined 32 fouls and six cards.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 45-9-10 all-time against Coast Guard and 4-0-2 versus the Bears in the postseason.
• Friday's result snapped Babson's run of seven consecutive appearances in the NEWMAC Tournament final going back to 2018, and broke its run of nine straight conference playoff victories on Hartwell-Rogers Field.
• The Green and White is now 9-0-6 this season when conceding one goal or fewer.
• Prior to Friday, the Beavers had not gone to penalties in the NEWMAC Tournament since the 2023 NEWMAC final at WPI.
