WORCESTER -- Coast Guard's Mia Forti (Durham, CT) and WPI's Maeve Steckley (Rochester, NY) traded goals late in the first half as the two teams played to a 1-1 tie in a NEWMAC women's soccer contest played on Saturday afternoon on H. Carr Field.
 
The result is WPI's second straight tie and moves the Engineers record to 6-5-3 overall and 2-2-3 in NEWMAC play.  The Bears see their record shift to 2-10-2 on the season and 1-4-2 in NEWMAC action.    
 
The two teams were scoreless a half hour into the match, but the Bears broke the initial deadlock following a corner kick. Riley Vicinanzo (Vestavia Hilla, MA) took the corner and served in front of the net, where it was headed away to Forti. The sophomore collected the ball about eight yards out on the left side and pushed a shot towards the far post that results in her fourth goal of the season at 30:45.
 
The Crimson and Gray countered less than 10 minutes later.  Jess English (Ledyard, CT) launched a long free kick into the box that found the foot of Steckley, who redirected English's ball into the net with 5:57 to before intermission.  The tally is the rookie's third goal of 2023.
 
The Bears arguably had the best scoring chance of the second half, but Emma Lynch-Galvin's (Melrose, MA) header floated just over the bar in the 73rd minute. Lottie McLeod (Newton, MA) had a scoring chance for the hosts less than three minutes later, but her shot was blocked as was Steckley's attempt in the final 30 seconds.
 
Lili Hellerman (Ashland, MA) recorded five stops in net for the Engineers and Emily Scharnitzky (Charleston, SC), her Coast Guard counterpart, made 12 saves for the guests.
 
For the match, WPI enjoyed a 20-9 advantage in shots while the Bears held a slight 9-7 edge in corner kicks.  Hannah Wolfgang (Holliston, MA) and Madisyn Bagby (Aurora, CO) combined for 10 shots for the hosts, with eight on target.  
 
The match was WPI women's soccer's third annual TWS (Together We Support) "Blue" Soccer game in support of colon cancer awareness and in support of head coach Steph Riley-Schafer.  The Engineers wore blue shirts in warmups and Coast Guard coaches wore blue TWS shirts in support during the game.
  
WPI begins a two-game road trip on Wednesday, venturing to Springfield for a 7:30pm kickoff before heading to MIT Saturday for a 1pm match.   Coast Guard returns home Wednesday for a 4pm match-up with Smith.