Tasked with leading this group is senior captain Blaise Curtis who was a unanimous pick by his teammates to be the solo team captain this season.
The Bears defense is one of their returning strengths anchored by sophomore goalie Trey Johnson who started 13 games last season sporting a 9-5 record. He led the conference with an 8.10 goals against average and allowed a NEWMAC low 108 goals. His goals against average was also 32nd in the country.
In front of Johnson sits an aggressive, hungry defense led by second team All-NEWMAC returners sophomores Tom Bleifuss and Connor Ellis who led a defense that was ninth in the country in caused turnovers per game (12.44). The two players combined for 72 caused turnovers with Ellis leading the conference with 42 and Bleifuss sixth with 26. Ellis was also 15th in the country with a 2.28 caused turnovers per game average.
Also featured in the defense this season will be junior John Behnke, sophomores Ryland Chapman and Mike McCaslin and freshman Justin Edwards.
Juniors Alec Groff and TJ Varley and sophomores Matt Nagle and Jeff Porter will highlight the defensive midfielders for Coast Guard this season.
The emphasis on the offensive side of the field is facilitation. LaForte believe the team will see an uptick in scoring because of the better passing team he has on the field this season.
One player making the switch to attack to help facilitate this needed surge in assists is sophomore Benner Geurtsen who had nine goals, six assists and 15 points last season. LaForte believes his addition to the attack will make more players viable scoring options.
Sophomore second team All-NEWMAC returner Jack Pope (22 goals, 28 points) and classmate Anthony Wyler (18 goals, nine assists and 27 points) are the Bears top returning scoring options from last season and will continue to be dangerous around the goals. Sophomore Ian Logan (17 goals, 10 assists and 27 points) also is a threat to score in bunches as he tallied three hat tricks last season and also racked up four points against New England College. Junior Matt Huemme will also be healthy this season as he tallied eight goals before injuring his wrist against Regis early in the season.
Newcomers Riley McNulty and Ryan Gochar will also be an added scoring punch for Coast Guard as they both have showed well during preseason and will look to make an immediate impact on the teams scoring.
Coast Guard has also improved their schedule this season adding nonconference games against Lasell, Eastern Connecticut, Catholic, Washington College and Misericordia. The out of conference schedule will be highlighted by the rivalry matchup against Merchant Marine which will be played at the Naval Academy following the Army Navy game on April 15th.
The Bears will also play their always tough conference schedule with games against Springfield, Babson, MIT, Wheaton and Clark who were all in the mix until the final day of the season for a playoff berth.
Coast Guard opens the season on Saturday, February 25th, with a home game against Lasell College. Opening faceoff is 3:00.