WASHINGTON — The Catholic University of America Cardinals earned their first-ever New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win at the Coast Guard Academy on Saturday afternoon, 20-14.

Sophomore quarterback Alejandro Ros threw two touchdown passes and the defense came up strong down the stretch with turnovers by the Bears on their final three possessions.

Catholic struck first with a Pearce Bartlett field goal in the quarter, but Coast Guard answered with a two-yard touchdown run at the start of the second.

The Cardinals got their first touchdown of the day with time expiring in the first half when Ros tossed a 14-yard strike to senior wideout Blake Gomez with just 29 seconds left to give Catholic a 10-7 halftime lead.

Ros added his second TD pass in the third quarter as he found Rey Riveros from 19 yards out.

Coast Guard continued to challenge however as they answered on the next drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to make it just a three-point game.

It was Catholic that owned the fourth though as Bartlett added a second field goal and the defense took care of the rest.

The Cardinals forced a turnover on downs by Coast Guard and then got interceptions by juniors Joe Nacci and Isaiah Snead to roil the Bears final three possessions.

Ros finished his day with 210 yards in the air on 20 completions and added 19 yards on the ground.

Gomez was his favorite target as he found him six times for 76 yards.

Rookie running back Pedro Garcia made his season debut and led the Cards backfield with 57 yards on 18 totes.

The Catholic defense forced three fumbles and had three picks as senior Luke Kern also added an INT.

Junior linebacker David Adams enjoyed a strong game with a team-high nine tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.

Catholic returns home next weekend for a pivotal NEWMAC contest against WPI at 1 p.m.

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