ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Playing its first and only home game in the month of September, the Navy women's soccer team treated its fans at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility to an exhilarating 3-1 win over Colgate to capture a victory in its Patriot League home opener on Saturday afternoon. The Mids (8-4-1, 1-1 PL) broke out to an early 1-0 lead in the seventh minute before having to re-take the lead in the second half with a response 34 seconds after the Raiders (1-8-2, 0-2 PL) temporarily drew even.
Navy's underclass provided the offensive highlights on Saturday as all goals and assists came from freshmen and sophomores.
Stella Jones (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.) engaged the scoring with the game's first goal, while
Faith Graziano (So., Middlebury, Conn.) was credited with the game-winning tally.
Sofia Grundy (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) notched the Mids' insurance marker with her first collegiate goal.
"It's fantastic to be home again," remarked head coach
Carin Gabarra. "We love to play at Glenn Warner. We love our community and our fans here so it was great to be back on our home field.
"I thought we did some things really well today, but we lost some discipline at times. We need to better in possession. We need to make sure we're handling the ball and taking care of decisions quickly, moving the ball quickly, and being in the right position defensively when we give the ball away. After they [Colgate] tied us, our response was excellent. We gave up a goal and we responded immediately, which I'm really proud of that. 22 players saw time today, you love to see our depth get a chance to see important minutes in league play. We battled through some tricky weather conditions, but a win in conference is always exceptional. We're happy with the win and we'll move on to Lehigh."
Coming in with just one goal scored over its past six contests, Colgate was hungry to break through on the offensive side of the ball. The Raiders immediately challenged the Mids and goalkeeper
Natasha Stramrood (Jr., Cypress, Texas) 81 seconds into the game when Brooke Bodamer laced a shot on frame that forced Stramrood to leap up and bat the ball over the goal. Withstanding that early threat invigorated Navy on the other end of the pitch as Jones found the back of the net just over six minutes into the game at 6:11 when
Emmalea Sidorsky (So., Ocoee, Fla.) fed her up the right wing and the freshman midfielder took two dribbles into the 18-yard box before unleashing a low line drive shot into the lower left corner.
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Up 1-0, the Mids continued to pressure the Raiders in hopes of doubling their lead throughout the rest of the first half. The home squad took nine more shots, though all four of the attempts that were on goal were denied by Ella Poppinga. Navy's two most dangerous looks were a
Helen Bonner (So., McLean, Va.) shot off a give-and-go with Graziano in the 36th minute and a
Lauren Toms (Jr., Fairplay, Md.) header off a
Sona Gonzales (So., Henderson, Nev.) corner kick in the 43rd.
With the score 1-0 coming out of the locker rooms following halftime, Saturday's end result was still very much up for grabs as a Colgate registered the stanza's first shot on goal when Molly Richards received a lead pass and was denied by Stramrood just as she got her got her shot off at point blank range.
The Raiders continued making in-roads in the Mids' defensive third and eventually drew even at 63:47 courtesy of a Lydia Thornton score.
The scoreboard wasn't idle for long as an efficient two-player build between
Jessica Black (So., Cedaredge, Colo.) and Graziano put Navy right back in the lead 34 seconds later at 64:21.
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Back in the lead, the Mids kept their foot on the gas offensively with Black in the mix once again. A little over three minutes later, a looping service into the box by
Margaret Pritchard (Fr., Greensboro, Ga.) was chased down by Black, who without hesitating back-heel flicked the ball to the waiting Grundy for a one-time no-doubt shot and score at 67:59.
Ahead 3-1, Navy silenced Colgate for the remaining 20-plus minutes to seal the conference victory. Stramrood was called upon twice during this final run of play to make saves, both of which came in the last two minutes.
The junior goalkeeper finished her performance with five total saves.
For the game, Navy out-shot Colgate, 21-10 with a 10-6 advantage in shots on goal. The Mids also held a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.
Navy will be back in action on Wednesday with a road tilt at Lehigh University. Kickoff in Bethlehem, Pa. is set for 6 p.m.
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