New London, Conn. – The No. 6 U.S. Coast Guard Academy Men’s Lacrosse team (9-1, 3-0) used a 7-1 second half run that included four goals and an assist by Cadet 2/c E. J. Schmid (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville), to blow open a tight 6-6 game midway through the third quarter. Coast Guard got goals from seven different players to post a 13-7 win over No. 22 Stonehill College (6-3, 1-0) last night at a packed Cadet Memorial Stadium overlooking the Thames River.
Coast Guard was led offensively by Schmid who registered six points for the second game in a row (fourth game this season with six or more points) on four goals and two assists. Schmid also tied 2/c defensemen Nick Fredericksen (Nashua, N.H./Nashua South) for the Bears’ ground ball team-high honors with seven. Cadet 1/c and Team Captain Austin English (Kent Island, Md./Kent Island) and Cadet 2/c Stu Carley (Houston, Texas/James E. Taylor) chipped in with five (2g,3a) and four (2g,2a) points respectively.
Coast Guard did a nice job at the faceoff x going 14 for 22 (63.6%) on the night. Cadet 1/c and Team Captain Steven Danseglio (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip) went 8 for 11 and added a goal, two assists and four ground balls.
Coast Guard took an early 1-0 lead as Cadet 1/c Steven Danseglio (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip) scored on a seven-yard shot just 27 seconds in off a nice feed from Schmid. However, less than two minutes later, Stonehill scored twice – including an extra-man goal to put them up 2-1.
A Skyhawks push gave Coast Guard a man advantage and 4/c Justin Huemme (Sherborn, Mass./Dover-Sherborn) fed Schmid who hit an over-the-shoulder shot from just in front of the crease to tie the game at 2-2 with 3:44 on the first-quarter clock. English scored the Bears’ third goal, taking a flip from Schmid and running left-to-right past his defender to score at 1:27.
Danseglio picked up the ground ball on the next faceoff and fed a nice no-look pass to Carley for 12-yard shot to give Coast Guard a 4-2 lead out of the break. Not done, Danseglio handed out another dime to 2/c Paul Dell’isola (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) who scored with a sidearm shot from just outside the crease to make it 5-2. Stonehill was undaunted by this 2-0 run and quickly came back with two goals to head into the halftime break down one at 5-4.
The second half opened with goals for both sides and suddenly it was 6-6 just a few minutes into the third quarter.
The flurry started when Carley converted a bounce shot from a tough angle on the left side after rolling from ‘X’ and getting a nice feed from 1/c James Lord (Simsbury, Conn/Westminster). That goal pushed the Bears’ advantage to 7-6. From there, Schmid took over scoring duties. With 1:58 remaining in the quarter, Schmid came open on a fast break opportunity and scored on a low-to-low shot off a pass from 1/c defensemen 1/c Conor Breckenridge (San Francisco , Calif./Novato). With 38 seconds left in the third quarter, Schmid built the lead back to three for Coast Guard, flicking a shot into the net off a Carley feed.
Dell’isola pushed the lead to four, 10-6, 1:22 into the fourth quarter with a low-to-low shot from the right side off an English pass. Then English came off a Schmid screen, and Schmid rolled to the right side of the crease where English hit him for a hard shot from seven yards out.
Stonehill scored at the 7 minute mark to get back within four at 11-7. Huemme used a Schmid pass at 6:16 to score his first of the game before 4/c Trent Moon finished up the scoring with a nice bouncer after rolling the crease on the left side for the 13-7 victory.
Cadet 1/c Justin Dougherty (Satellite Beach, FL/Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy) picked up the win, making ten saves while allowing seven goals. The four man close-defense rotation of 1/c Tim Wyderko (Detroit, Mich./Orchard Lake St. Mary’s), 1/c Conor Breckenridge (San Francisco , Calif./Novato), 1/c James Fennessey (Milton, Mass./Milton) and Fredericksen played exceptionally well throughout and especially midway through the third quarter. With the score tied at 6-6 and Stonehill momentum building – a “gut check” point – the defense staved off multiple Stonehill man-up situations and ignited Schmid’s offensive heroics. The poles were “on the offensive” again as Breckenridge handed out a fast-break assist.
Coast Guard will be back in action on Friday, April 26th at 7:00 PM in the friendly confines of Cadet Memorial Stadium taking on Southern Connecticut State University (0-5, 0-1). This is Coast Guard’s last regular season game and the Bears will honor their graduating 1/c Cadets on “Senior Night”.
Game Notes:
–The Bears are currently ranked No. 6 overall in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse MCLA Coaches Poll this week.
–This was the Bears fourth victory over a Top 25 ranked opponent this season.
–Coast Guard shared the ball extremely well as 12/13 goals were assisted (92.3%).