Two Top 25 Wins for Coast Guard Academy Lacrosse

Hardeeville, S.C. – The Coast Guard Academy Men’s Lacrosse team (2-0) finished off their 1,000 mile President’s Weekend road trip in style with another Top 25 out-of-conference win - 13-11 over #20 Kennesaw State University (0-4) in the third annual Ricky McAllaster Memorial Lacrosse Tournament. Cadet 1/c Steven Danseglio (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip) scored on three great individual efforts and handed out two assists to finish with five points on the day and six other Bears registered at least a point.

The Bears started slow again and quickly found themselves down 0-2 on consecutive days. The quiet man from Texas, 2/c Stu Carley (Houston, Texas/James E. Taylor) and his set-up man 2/c E. J. Schmid (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville), got the Bear’s scoring started for the second game in a row on a beautiful fast break goal that resulted from crisp ball movement. Then Schmid finished on the doorstep off a no-look feed from Austin English (Kent Island, Md./Kent Island) to even things at two. 1/c Steven Danseglio (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip) ripped a shot home after a gorgeous split dodge at the top of the box to make it 3-2. English scored on a nice dodge and shoot from behind with 52 seconds left to end the quarter up 4-2.

Kennesaw opened up the second quarter scoring twice to tie it at four all, before Danseglio scored on a dodge-and-shoot down the alley to give Coast Guard a 5-4 lead. Carley came up big again after a nice feed from 3/c Patrick Dreiss (Wantagh, N.Y./Holy Trinity) to give the Bears a two-goal cushion. That’s when Danseglio struck again, beating his man for a ten yard bounce shot into the back of the net. Dreiss followed with a nice individual effort to up the run to 4-0 and make it 8-4 heading in to the locker room.

The Owls started the third quarter strong, scoring the first goal to make it 8-5. The Bears and Owls then swapped goals to make it 9-6 with 2/c James Lord (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster) getting the tally for Coast Guard on a nice dime from Danseglio. Not done, Danseglio won the subsequent faceoff, beat his man and hit Schmid coming from goal line extended to beat the Kennesaw goalie from in tight to make it 10-6. Then Kennesaw scored back-to-back goals - one with 24 seconds left in the quarter - to close to 10-8.

Despite a lackluster offensive performance in the third quarter – losing the period 2-4, Coast Guard again came out firing on all cylinders in the fourth. 2/c Paul Dell’isola (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) opened the fourth with a great man-up rip set-up by Carley. Then English came through with a beautiful dodge from behind for a 12-8 lead with six minutes to go. That’s when things got ugly for Coast Guard as Kennesaw struck for 3 straight tallies over a four minute stretch to cut the Bears lead to one at 12-11. Things were getting dicey when 2/c Nick Fredericksen (Nashua, N.H./Nashua South) “out toughed” the field during an unsettled situation to scoop a loose ball, start the fast break and hit Carley at the top of the box. Like he did all weekend, Carley stepped up and made a play to “stop the bleeding” at the two minute mark for a 13-11 lead and that was how it ended.

Defensively, goalie Justin Dougherty (Satellite Beach, Fla./Holy Trinity Episcopal) led the Bears with another strong effort, making ten saves with 11 goals against. 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.

Coast Guard will head back to New London and is back in action on Friday, March 1st at 7:00 PM at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn.

Game Notes:

–With the 13-11 victory, the Coast Guard Academy now leads the all-time series 2-0. The Bears won the first meeting in 2011 at the Sailfish Shootout 11-7.
–The Bears are currently ranked No. 12 overall in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse MCLA Coaches Poll this week.
–Coast Guard shared the ball as 7/13 goals were assisted (53.8%).
–Coast Guard finished 10/25 on face-offs (40.0%).

For additional information – check out: www.coastguardlax.vicid.net.

As the smallest of the five U.S. service academies, the Coast Guard Academy offers the elite higher education, rigorous professional development, and honor and tradition of a military academy but with a more personalized approach.

The Coast Guard Academy offers an integrated life experience which emphasizes academics, physical fitness, character and leadership, in order to graduate officers of the highest caliber. Graduates go directly to positions of leadership in "The Shield of Freedom," one of the most admired organizations in the world. The Academy also features an impressive teacher-student ratio and picturesque waterfront campus that instills a traditional small college feel.

Cadets devote themselves to an honor concept and graduate to work at sea, on land, in the air, and even in space, in meaningful careers of selfless service to others.