BOSTON, Mass. - UMass Boston Women's Soccer picked up their first victory of the season in front of a raucous home crowd on Tuesday night. The Beacons won their much-anticipated return to James Cotter Field by a final score of 4-3 over the United States Coast Guard Academy.

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 4, United States Coast Guard Academy 3

UMass Boston (1-0-1)
United States Coast Guard Academy (1-1-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Kaylee Haynes wasted no time refamiliarizing herself with the Beacons' old stomping grounds on Tuesday, netting her first goal of the season less than five minutes into the contest before hitting her signature celebration, sprinting up the sideline to high-five the entire UMass Boston bench.

Though it took a bit longer to find, Coast Guard was able to match the Beacons' opening score, knotting the game at one apiece with less than three minutes remaining in the half.

As the 55-minute mark came to pass and the Beacons' scoring drought stretched to 50 minutes, newcomer Christina LaFauci flipped a switch to help her offense come to life. In the span of less than seven minutes, LaFauci scored her first career goal and assisted on two more. The barrage of scoring had the James Cotter faithful rocking and the Beacons cruising with a 4-1 lead.

Though the momentum was strongly in favor of the home team, the visitors refused to go away. With just under 24 minutes left to play in the game, the Bears netted their second goal of the contest to cut the UMass Boston lead to 4-2.

Coast Guard scored a third goal in the late goings of the match, but it could easily have been the equalizer if not for the defensive heroics of Bella Luca in the 76th minute. With goalie Julia Cote drawn out of the net, the Bears appeared to have a clear path to score until Luca made a sliding save to keep the ball out of the goal. 

When the high-scoring affair wrapped up, the Beacons were winners of their fifth straight on James Cotter Field, their first since the 2021 season.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston Women's Soccer has not lost at James Cotter Field since October 9, 2018
• Haynes' goal was the 18th of her career, moving her one shy of a tie with Jaclyn O'Grady for seventh most in program history 
• Cote faced eight shots from the Bears, saving five
• LaFauci, Andrea Rivera, and Amanda Regan all netted their first career goals in the second half
• The Beacons avenged their 2022 loss to Coast Guard, improving their record in the all-time series to 3-1

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will travel to Cortland, New York this weekend for the SUNY Cortland Tournament. They will face SUNY Cortland at 3 PM on Friday, September 8, and Arcadia University at 2 PM on Saturday, September 9.