New London — Some of the nuances of playing cornerback, according to Coast Guard Academy junior Mike Goldsworthy: proficient footwork, being aware of the tendencies of the opposing wide receivers and quarterback and, maybe the most important thing on the list.

Move on to the next play as soon as the last one is over.

"Every play," Goldsworthy said Wednesday at the team's weekly football luncheon. "Every play you have to be on your toes or the next thing you know there's play action and he's 5-10 yards behind you. I love the thrill. I've been playing defensive back my whole life. You make one little mistake and give up six points easy. If you make a bad play, they score. You're constantly making changes."

"I think he said it better than almost anyone," Coast Guard coach Bill George said a few moments later. "He was down after one or two games. Mike got beat a couple games. That's why they have the sport here, so you can bounce back."

Goldsworthy, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound former strong safety who moved to corner this year, had a career day, however, in Saturday's 15-0 victory over Maine Maritime.

He finished with three interceptions, his first three of the season, to clinch the shutout for the Bears, who are 5-2 overall, 3-1 in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference going into this week's game against league-leading MIT (6-0, 3-0).

Goldsworthy was awarded a challenge coin following the game from Admiral Karl Schultz, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, who attended the Homecoming Weekend festivities. The first player to intercept three passes in a game since Mark Behne in 2015, Goldsworthy was also named NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Week and was a member of the D3football.com Team of the Week.

The affable, yet scrappy Goldsworthy, from Jamison, Pa., about 30 miles outside of Philadelphia, now has five career interceptions, finishing with one as a freshman and one last season.

This season, he has 31 tackles, 18 solo, and team highs in interceptions (3) and pass breakups (8). He also returned a blocked extra point 98 yards for two points in the Bears' game against Springfield, Oct. 6.

"He's an exceptional kid," George said. He's a little bit of a free spirit, but he's learning to use that to his advantage. He's really maturing. Football is helping him on his path to becoming an officer. He has some natural, God-given ability for leadership, which the Coast Guard is corralling into him being an upbeat officer."

George said it took Goldsworthy a few games to get used to the switch to corner, but said that it was apparent on the practice film right from the opening week that he had a much-needed talent for it.

"Corner is a tough, maybe the toughest postion in football in many cases," George said. "God made your leg go forward. He didn't make it to run backwards. It's a hard position. And one person knows where they're going and the other doesn't. Any mistake made, the whole stadium sees it."

The Bears defense, which will face a top-level MIT team, including 6-3, 200-pound wide receiver Eddy Garcia-Montes (35 catches, 325 yards, 2 TDs), is allowing 17.9 points per game on 204.4 yards passing and 135 yards rushing.

Goldsworthy had interceptions Saturday in the first, second and fourth quarters. He also had four tackles as the Bears held Maine Maritime to 125 yards in total offense.

Goldsworthy was taken aback by the coin given to him by Schultz, whom he calls "a great person to be the face of Coast Guard."

Said Goldsworthy, whose parents John and Lauretta attended the game: "... Definitely (I'm happy with) the overall way the team played — it could have been easy to slip to an 0-5 team, the shutout of a team, also the Homecoming win in front of a sold-out crowd where most of them went to the academy and are back home.

"I always wanted to play football at a higher level and here it's such a family. Where my parents went to school and other places, yeah, you could do something big, but you're just another person. Here, the number of people who came up to me and said, 'good job' after Saturday and I was like, 'I didn't know you even watched football.'"

v.fulkerson@theday.com