NEW LONDON, Conn. — Sophomore midfielder Julia Sternat (Ellington, Conn.) scored with just 6:15 left to play to give the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's soccer team a 1-1 tie at host United States Coast Guard Academy this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play on Nitchman Field in New London, Conn.
The Lyons finish their season with an overall record of 5-11-2, including 3-7-1 in league play, while the Bears are now 4-9-4 and 3-4-4. Coast Guard earns the number six seed in the NEWMAC Championship tournament and will take on third-seeded Emerson College on Tuesday, October 31 at 6:00 p.m. on Rotch Field in Boston, Mass.
The tie ends an incredible streak of playoff soccer for Wheaton, marking the first time 1986 that the Lyons will not battle in a playoff match. Wheaton had participated in every NEWMAC Tournament (24) since its inception in 1998, following 10 straight appearances in NEW 8 tourney and one in the NEW 6 Tournament.
The Bears owned a 14-10 shot advantage and were awarded 12 of 13 corner kicks in the match.
Sternat's goal came during an offensive rush late in the second half by Wheaton. First year back Maya Thomas (Goffstown, N.H.) fired a shot that was stopped by the Coast Guard keeper with 6:46 to play. Sternat played a long ball into the right side of the box, before she fired a shot from the post into the far left corner of the net for her third goal of the season just 31 seconds later to pull the Lyons even at 1-1.
With Wheaton needing a goal for a potential victory to vault them into the NEWMAC playoffs, sophomore forward Katie Wickenheisser (Oxford, Conn.) fired a shot on frame with 3:04 showing on the second half clock, but the Bears goalie turned the try away with a diving stop to keep it a stalemate.
Coast Guard got on the board in the 32nd minute when senior forward Sidney Palinkas (Hartland, Conn.) found sophomore forward Teal Wasson (Kahuku, Hawaii) in a scrum in front of the net for her first collegiate goal, following a corner kick serve that slipped through the Lyon keeper's hands. The Bears held the lead for the next 51-plus minutes before the Lyons got the equalizer.
Sophomore keeper Patricia Bandrup (Poway, Calif.) was instrumental in keeping it a tie game for Wheaton with nine saves on the afternoon. The second-year netminder was tested with three consecutive shots that she denied within a 93-second span to set up Sternat's game-tying strike just 49 seconds later. Thomas paced the Lyons' offense with three shots on frame.
Chase Merrick fired three shots, including two on net to lead Coast Guard. Emily Scharnitzky (Charleston, S.C.) recorded four saves for the Bears.
