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Baladad & Shadwick Rescue Coast Guard for 12-11 OT Win Over Wesleyan in Division III Club Opening Round
VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Nate Baladad (Sr., Merced, Calif.) batted in a loose ball during a scramble in front of the cage with Wesleyan University goalie Stephen Ranney (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) following a missed shot with 37 seconds left in the second overtime period to hand the United States Coast Guard Academy a 12-11 overtime win over the Cardinals in the fourth and final opening round game at the 2008 Division III Collegiate Club Championship hosted by Villanova University.
In a game which saw five lead changes, the Bears, who are trained for at-sea rescues, needed some saving as Chris Woods (Sr., Simsbury, Conn.) and Jack Shadwick (Sr., Campbell Hall, N.Y.) scored with 3:28 and 46 seconds left in the fourth period, respectively, for Coast Guard to overcome a 10-8 deficit and knot the game at 10-all.
The game appeared primed to go to OT at 10-all, but the Bears' Mark Tatara (So., Naperville, Ill.) registered his fourth goal of the game to put Coast Guard in front 11-10 with 29 seconds to play.
Needing a stop to secure the win, Coast Guard's regulation victory hopes were sunk by the shot of Andrew Jaycox (Jr., Hatfield, Pa.) who ripped a shot inside the post and past Bears' goalie Ashley Lerner (Sr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) to knot the game up at 11-all 11 seconds after Tatara's potential game-winner and force overtime.
Following a scoreless first OT period, the Bears used some luck and batting skills to notch the win courtesy Baladad's fortunate arm swing to push the ball into the cage on an advantage opportunity.
The contest did not appear to be in Coast Guard's favor in the third period as Wesleyan overcame a 7-6 halftime deficit to build a 9-7 lead following the third frame.
Coast Guard began to chip away at the lead in the opening 30 seconds of the fourth period when Ian Campbell (Sr., Fresno, Calif.) scored at the 6:41 mark to put the Bears within 9-8. Wesleyan answered with a goal by Jaycox with 3:40 left in regulation, but Woods and Shadwick found the back of the cage to setup the dramatic finale.
Jaycox led all scorers with eight goals for Wesleyan, while Tatara earned Player of the Game honors for leading Coast Guard with four goals to join Cambell and Jaycox as the only players to register hat-tricks in the game.
Between the pipes, Ranney blocked away six shots for Wesleyan and Lerner made eight saves for Coast Guard as the teams will continue the tournament on different paths.
The Bears will square off with New York University, which knocked off Monmouth College 17-12 in the third game of the tournament, at 7:45 p.m. in a semifinal game, while Wesleyan will meet Monmouth at 6:30 p.m. with a spot in the fifth place game at stake.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final |
| Wesleyan | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| US Coast Guard | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12 |
USCG Goals: Mark Tatara (4); Ian Campbell (3); Chris Woods (2); Jack Shadwick; Nate Baladad; Timothy Berry
Wesleyan Goals: Andrew Jaycox (8); Michael Bailey (2); Mark Ramos
Saves: USCG - Ashley Lerner (8); Wesleyan - Stephen Ranney (6)
Ejections: USCG - 11; Wesleyan - 13
