New London — The Whale Cup rivalry has a way of igniting the competitive fire in both teams.

Wednesday's hard-fought women's soccer game served as another example.

Connecticut College seized a two-goal lead but needed to fend off a feisty challenge from host Coast Guard Academy before securing a 2-1 victory.

"It's a great derby," Conn coach Norm Riker said. "We're lucky. ... They had us on the ropes."

Lucky, perhaps.

The opportunistic Camels (4-1) displayed better finishing skills, riding goals from senior Sam Miesemer and sophomore Kat Norton to their 17th victory in 18 games in the series.

Sophomore goalie Katy Pelletier made a huge save, stopping junior Claire Hurley's hard shot from about 10 yards out with 19 minutes left and the Camels leading 2-0. Hurley, a former Waterford all-stater, is Coast Guard's crafty playmaker and leading scorer with two goals and five assists this season.

The Bears (3-3) picked up the pressure in the second half and cut the gap to 2-1 on junior Lizzie Miller's well-placed header into the corner off sophomore Kylee Ballard's corner kick. They kept pressing in the final six minutes but couldn't come up with the equalizer.

"We made it a little bit interesting," CGA coach Susan Grant said. "It was nice that we didn't give up and we still had that fight in us."

Even though the primary focus is on conference play for both teams, the Camels and the Bears treat the Whale Cup as a big game.

The Bears have dropped eight straight in the series but closed the competitive gap between the two programs in recent years. They suffered their second straight one-goal loss to the Camels and scored a goal against them for the first time since 2013.

"We did well," said Miller, the anchor of the CGA defense. "It was a hard-fought game. We love playing them. It's always one of our favorite games to play."

And one of their toughest games as well.

Riker has built a quality program that has reached the NCAA tournament three out of the last four years. The Camels remain deep despite losing nine seniors.

Up top, Norton and senior Alex Baltazar, a talented and dangerous duo, put pressure on the CGA defense. They factored in both goals.

A hustling Norton played her usual role as a persistent pest. Norton won a battle with freshman goalie Katharina Commins for a loose ball and poked it back to Miesemer who fired it into an open net for a 1-0 lead a minute before halftime.

"She never quits on anything," Riker said of Norton. "She creates the first goal really for us."

With the Bears pushing forward searching for the tying goal, the Camels struck again, this time on a counterattack.

Baltazar's well-executed long pass found a streaking Norton who calmly finished off her breakaway by deftly placing the ball into the far left corner for a 2-0 lead with 28 minutes left.

It was Norton's team-leading fourth goal of the season. Her teammates fed off her endless supply of energy.

"You always have to have high energy on the soccer field," Norton said. "You can't let that down, especially as a forward because you're constantly making runs. Making sure that you're working hard for your team is important. If you have energy, everyone else has more energy, too."

Both Coast Guard and Conn College return to conference play this weekend.

g.keefe@theday.com