THE BASICS:
- Score: MIT 17, U.S. Coast Guard Academy 10
- Records: MIT (12-0, 4-0 NEWMAC); Coast Guard (8-5, 3-1 NEWMAC)
- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Roberts Field at Steinbrenner Stadium)
- The Lead: Nationally-ranked No. 18 MIT tied the program record for wins in a season with 12 after it defeated the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 17-10, in NEWMAC men's lacrosse action on Saturday. Graduate student
Ryan Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) powered the Engineers with four goals and four assists, raising his season point total to 84 and eclipsing the Institute record of 82 that was set by
James Santoro '22 in 2019. For the Bears, Caleb Holdridge dished out six assists as Taylor Gustafson posted four goals.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- MIT controlled the first quarter as it outscored Coast Guard, 6-1. Sophomore
Heath Nilsen (Carlsbad, Calif.) connected on a feed from Gebhardt after 1:30 elapsed and then set up senior
Gavin Vandenberg (Elmhurst, Ill.) a few minutes later. Gebhardt picked up another assist when sophomore
Bennett Stankovits (Rumson, N.J.) found the back of the net at the 6:37 mark. The Bears won the ensuing faceoff and it resulted in Gunnar Brodfuehrer ending the shutout. Quick goals by senior
Andy Shin (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and Nilsen increased MIT's lead to 5-1. Shin then closed out the quarter with a solo blast with four ticks left.
- Gustafson scored early in the second stanza but the Engineers rattled off three goals in a row to go up 9-2. Gebhardt's unassisted marker started the spurt and then he earned assists on back-to-back strikes from Vandenberg. Coast Guard replied with goals from Ian Feely and Gustafson, both coming on passes from Holdridge. MIT matched this as Nilsen was a factor in the Engineers' next two goals which created an 11-4 lead at halftime. Nilsen found Stankovits with just over two minutes remaining and then he scored with 52 seconds left.
- After an exchange of goals, including a man-up strike by Gustafson that made the score 12-6 with 6:53 on the clock, MIT generated three goals in a span of 3:32. Vandenberg notched the first goal and set up Gebhardt, who then recorded his 12th hat trick in as many games.
- Gebhardt tallied his 66th goal of the season early in the fourth quarter, but the Bears put together a three-goal burst during the course of two minutes that narrowed the gap to 16-9 with 8:24 remaining. Ryan Hunter started the run as Ryan Flynn and Gustafson followed, with both scoring on feeds from Holdridge. Just over a minute later, Vandenberg buried a man-down goal. The game remained scoreless until Matt Flynn found the back of the net with 3:26 left to play, resulting in a 17-10 final.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Vandenberg finished with five goals, two assists, and two caused turnovers as Nilsen tallied four goals and two assists. Junior
Teddy Corcoran (Harrison, N.Y.) posted six groundballs and three caused turnovers while classmate
Andrew Johnson (Dover, Mass.) collected four groundballs. First-year
Matthew Sardis (Bernardsville, N.J.) produced 10 groundballs and won 18 of his 26 faceoff attempts as senior
Lukas Drexler-Bruce (Denver, Colo.) made five saves.
- Oliver Bolton, Nick Butler, and Logan Tobias each had four groundballs while Bolton added two caused turnovers. Paul Mamay contributed three caused turnovers as Dan Lucas amassed 15 saves for Coast Guard.
- MIT is currently ranked 18th in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Magazine Poll.
UP NEXT:
- MIT returns to action on Saturday, April 23 when it travels to NEWMAC rival Emerson College for a 1:00 p.m. Coast Guard, meanwhile, will visit local non-conference foe Connecticut College on Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED:
- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
