Women's lacrosse commanded 15-5 by Coast Guard, Haesche posts 17 saves

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (Wednesday, March 27, 2024)-- The United States Coast Guard Academy overtook Salve Regina women's lacrosse 15-5 in NEWMAC play on Gaudet Field Wednesday evening. The Bears took advantage of a second period lull to gain momentum and shoot forward with five goals. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Coast Guard 15, Salve Regina 5
Records: Salve Regina (7-3, 1-2 NEWMAC), Coast Guard (6-3, 1-2 NEWMAC)
Last matchup: The last three contests have been wins for the Bears. On February 28, 2017, Salve Regina won 17-7. 

BREAKDOWN: 

Samantha Moleti (Township of Washington, N.J.) got the day going when she scored a free position goal at 13:13 remaining in the first period. The Seahawks and Bears played a back-and-forth game until the scored reached 2-2 at 6:33 in the first quarter. However, Coast Guard claimed a three goal lead with 15 minutes gone from the game. The turning point came in the second period when Coast Guard took control with five unanswered goals. Coast Guard's Addy Bass netted three of the five Bear goals in quick succession. It was a 9-2 game entering halftime.

Although Coast Guard managed to fire off another three goals to end the third period, Edie Threshie (Stratford, Conn.) started off the second half by finding the net just 30 seconds into the activity. Coast Guard drew their success right from the draw control, for which they saw 17 wins across the day and were able to successfully clear 16 of their 20 attempts. The Bears extended their 12-3 lead to a sizable 15-3 advantage, but the Seahawks stayed in the game, with two successes in the last eight minutes to end the encounter 15-5. Moleti once again made it past Bears' Maici Mintchwarner and Trinity Custodia (Swansea, Mass.) sank the last free position goal at 4:49. 

NOTEWORTHY:

• Grace Haesche (Warwick, N.Y.) made 17 stops at the net and faced 32 shots. 
• The Seahawks grabbed 31 ground balls, seven of which were picked up by Haesche. 
• Salve Regina turned the ball over 24 to Coast Guard's 17 times. 
• Moleti was the Seahawks leading scorer with two goals. 

THOUGHTS FROM COACH MALLOY:

"We set goals for this game. I felt like we met those goals and we're making progress at the right time. It's great to compete against really strong teams and it only makes us better." - Head coach Meg Malloy

ON THE HORIZON: 

On Wednesday, April 3, the Seahawks will travel to Northampton, Massachusetts for a NEWMAC matchup against Smith College at 7 p.m.