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Tufts Eludes Coast Guard 7-6 in Division III Club Championship Third Place Game
VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Tufts University goalie James Longhurst (Sr., Swampscott, Mass.) made 13 saves and the combination of Alex de Castro-Abeger (So., North Hollywood, Calif.) and Peter Georgakakos (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) combined for five goals to lead the Jumbos to a 7-6 win over the United States Coast Guard Academy in the third place game at the 2008 Division III Club Championship.
The game marked the third time in CWPA play that Tufts and Coast Guard clashed as the Jumbos fell to the Bears 9-8 in the North Atlantic Division championship game on October 19 after knocking off Coast Guard 12-6 in regular season play on October 5.
Further, it marks the third straight year Tufts finishes the year in third place at the Division III Championship after accomplishing the feat in 2006 (at Wesleyan University) and 2007 (at Lindenwood University).
The contest was tight for all 28 minutes of play with neither team achieving more than a one goal lead until the 5:04 mark of the fourth period.
Coast Guard opened the scoring with 4:35 left in the first period as Timothy Berry (Jr., Houston, Texas) found the back of the cage with a shot, but Tufts answered back 88 seconds later on a blast by de Castro-Abeger at the 3:07 mark to knot the game at 1-1 through a period of play.
The Bears went back in front at 2-1 at the 4:27 mark of the second period on a rising shot by Jack Shadwick (Sr., Cambell Hall, N.Y.), but Tufts answered again at 3:37 to retie the game. Again, Coast Guard went ahead as Alex Brown (So., Coconut Creek, Fla.) tallied a marker at the 1:24 mark, but a penalty shot by Georgakakos 22 seconds later retied the game at three-all.
Coast Guard achieved the lead again before halftime as Shadwick connected on a score with 24 seconds remaining until the halftime horn as the Bears went to their bench with a narrow 4-3 lead.
The margin evaporated 58 seconds into the second half as Georgakakos struck again with a successful penalty shot before de Castro-Abeger connected on a shot at even-strength to give the Jumbos their first lead of the game at 5-4 with 3:56 left in the third period.
Tufts built on the advantage behind an advantage goal by de Castro-Abeger and a natural goal by Lawrence Chan (Jr., New York, N.Y.) at the 5:04 and 4:02 marks, respectively, of the fourth period to go in front 7-4.
Coast Guard attempted to rally back as Berry and Nate Baladad (Sr., Merced, Calif.) tallied goals at 1:21 and 45 seconds, respectively, but the clock and Tufts' defense were not in their favor as the Jumbos held on for the one goal win.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Tufts | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Coast Guard | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Coast Guard Goals: Jack Shadwick (2); Timothy Berry (2); Nate Baladadp; Alex Brown
Tufts Goals: Alex de Castro-Abeger (3); Peter Georgakakos (2); Benji Koltai; Lawrence Chan
Saves: Coast Guard - Ashley Lerner (6); Tufts - James Longhurst (13)
Ejections: Coast Guard - 8; Tufts - 2
