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KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Oct. 30, 2020) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's soccer team will travel up the Northeast Corridor tomorrow, Oct. 31, for a Halloween showdown with arch-rival Coast Guard in an exhibition contest. Opening whistle is slated for 12-noon at the Bears' Nitchman Field. 

Live Coverage Will Be Available
The contest will be closed off to outside spectators, but you will be able to follow along with live stats and a live video feed provided by the Coast Guard Academy Sports Information office. To view the live stats, follow this link. The live video feed is accessible by clicking here. 

Winner Earns A Point For Their Academy
Even though the game is technically an exhibition and will not count for NCAA statistical purposes, the winner will still earn a point for their Academy in the overall standings for the 2020-21 Superintendents' Trophy. 

Senior Day Celebration
Prior to the match, both teams will honor their seniors with a special Senior Day ceremony. For the Mariners this includes seniors Brandon Cordova (Apple Valley, Minn.), Joe Clark (Baltimore, Md.), Hunter West (Southampton, N.Y.), Zach Lysakowski (Reading, Pa.), Jack Davis (Cape Carteret, N.C.), Ryan Haines (Marlton, N.J.) and Luke Sturtz (Norman, Okla.). 

A Closer Look At The Mariners
Merchant Marine will be in search of its first win over the Bears since the 2015 season. The Mariners went 10-7-1 in 2019 under head coach Drew McCarthy, including a 7-3-1 mark in Skyline Conference action. USMMA earned the #3 seed in the Skyline Tournament and was upset by eventual Skyline Champion #6-seed SUNY Maritime in the first round. 

The Mariners have lost three of their four top scorers from last season, as well as the back-to-back Skyline Defensive Player of the Year in goalkeeper Matthew Milner '20. Lysakowski, a two-time All-Skyline selection, is the squad's top returning scorer – he tallied 15 points on the season with five goals and a team-best five assists. He was selected to the All-Skyline Second Team at Midfield. 

Two other returners landed on the All-Skyline Teams - junior defender Abram Ehrhorn (Papillion, Neb.) to the First Team and Sturtz to the Second Team.

In total the Mariners have brought back seven players who started at least eight games in the 2019 season – Sturtz, junior Cole Blake (Parker, Colo.) on defense, Lysakowski, Ehrhorn, junior David Kelly (Lutherville, Md.) at midfield, and Haines at midfield. 

There was little switching of the starters by the Mariners' coaching staff over the two exhibitions they played against Division I Army West Point earlier this fall. All six listed above started the second game, while junior Liam Cashmore (Silverdale, Wash.) got the nod on defense over Blake in the first game. 

Also starting the two games were Clark at forward, junior Michael Melton (Denver, Colo.) and freshman Miguel Millan (Lake Travis, Texas) at midfield, sophomore Hudson Magee (Chapel Hill, N.C.) on defense and sophomore Chase Miller (Boise, Idaho) at keeper. 

Scouting The Bears
Coast Guard finished the 2019 season with a 9-8-1 record under long-time head coach Chris Parsons. The Bears went 2-5 in NEWMAC action and failed to qualify for the conference tournament. 

The top-three point-scorers for Coast Guard last season are all returning in juniors Mike Daunt (eight goals, one assist) and Robbie Fugett (seven goals, three assists), as well as senior Seth Anderson (four goals, two assists). The Bears lost their goalkeeper from last year in Dakota Harich, and have just one keeper returning from last season in sophomore John Vaaler, who played just 40 minutes over three games and didn't allow a goal. Two other freshmen may be called on to tend the goal - Josh Hudson and Max Pfleghar. 

The Bears had two players selected to the All-NEWMAC Second Team after the 2019 season. Daunt is the only returner. The other was graduated defender Brock Hassett. 

Like the Mariners, Coast Guard has six players returning that started in a majority of their games last year – Fugget, Daunt, Anderson and seniors Daniel Taglianetti, PJ Miccoli and Patrick Morris. 

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