WORCESTER -- A goal in the 89th minute lifted visiting Coast Guard to a 2-1 win over WPI in a NEWMAC men's soccer matchup at Alumni Stadium on Saturday. The loss dips the Engineers to 3-3-4 overall, 0-1-1 in conference play. The Bears improve to 6-2-3, 2-0-1 in the NEWMAC.
 
WPI struck first in the 22nd minute when Adin Pezo (Everett, MA) finished a through ball from Nikolas Previte (Andover, MA). Coast Guard answered five minutes later as Naveen Jayaram (Tampa, FL) headed in a service from Jake Fish (Little Silver, NJ) at 26:47.
 
The Bears netted the winner at 88:59 when Cole Miller (Annapolis, MD) scored off a feed from Aki Freeman (San Diego, CA). Moments later, WPI pressed for the equalizer, earning a corner in the 90th minute. However, Eli Marden's (Shelburne, VT) late effort went wide as the clock ticked down to zero.
 
Pezo nearly doubled the Engineers' early nearly doubled the early lead when his shot glanced off the post midway through the first half, while Mike Montabana (Jamison, PA) was active up front with a pair of close-range efforts that sailed just high before sending two more chances wide after the break. Erol Gumus (Montclair, NJ) came close on a header that drifted past the far post, keeping the match level deep into the second half.
 
At the other end, the Engineers' back line held firm behind two key defensive saves, one from Nathan Araujo (Holliston, MA) and another cleared off the line by the team collectively, before goalkeeper Savio Ketnouvong (Paxton, MA) was made his one save. Coast Guard keeper Samuel Linkous (Gulf Breeze, FL) turned aside two shots in the victory.
 
WPI carved out several good scoring opportunities across both halves, holding a 15-12 edge in shots and a 7-5 advantage in corners.
 
WPI returns to NEWMAC play on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 1pm at crosstown rival Clark. Coast Guard visits Emerson the same day at 1pm.