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Sept. 12, 2009

Final Stats

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Navy men's soccer team scored a pair of second-half goals and shut out Saint Francis (Pa.), 2-0, to win the title at the UMBC / adidas Kickoff Classic on Saturday afternoon. The Mids improve to 3-1-0 on the season.

Navy and host UMBC both went 2-0-0, but the Mids won by goal differential, as they won their two games by a 5-1 margin. UMBC won its two games by a 4-1 margin.

"We played well for where we are at right now, and we played well enough to wear them down some in the second half," said Navy head coach Dave Brandt. "It paid off with two goals in the second half."

After a fairly even first half, Navy broke through early in the second half.

Freshman Michael Uyehara (Agoura Hills, Calif.) tallied his first career goal in the 49th minute to give Navy a 1-0 advantage. Uyehara corraled a loose ball just inside the box and connected on a 16-yard shot just inside the left post for his first tally of his career.

Navy added to the lead 31 minutes later, when senior Mark Garcia (Tempe, Ariz.) netted his first goal of the season and fourth of his career in the 80th minute to give the Mids some breathing room. Freshman Michael Rakoczy (Cincinnati, Ohio) sent a cross into the box, where Garcia converted under the Saint Francis (Pa.) goalkeeper from 10 yards out to push the margin to 2-0.

The Navy defense then stifled the Red Flash in the last 10 minutes, preserving the first shutout of the season and first of goalkeeper Tyler Bristol's (Clinton, Conn.) career.

"We were much better defensively today than we have been so far this year," added Brandt. "They had some dangerous attacking players that we really had to focus on. It the was back fours' best effort of the season."

The Red Flash did manage 15 shots, but just three were on goal and most came from long distance. Navy also had 15 shots with nine coming on goal. Bristol recorded three saves in the shutout victory. Saint Francis (Pa.) had six corner kicks to Navy's four, while Navy had 12 fouls to Saint Francis' 11.

The title was Navy's second in a row at the event and the Mids have already scored eight goals this year after tallying 11 all of last season. In addition, seven players have scored goals already this season after seven netted goals all of last season.

Seniors Scott Robertson and Mark Garcia and freshmen Michael Rakoczy, Michael Uyehara and David Jackson were named to the All-Tournament team.

"We will always a work in progress and will try to figure things out as we go," said Brandt. "We have gotten better and we can still get better as we push forward. But I am pleased with our improvement since the start of the season."

Navy will travel to Philadelphia for its next three games, taking on Temple on Sept. 18 (3:30 pm), Penn on Sept. 20 (2:30 pm) and La Salle on Sept. 23 (7:00 pm.).

GAME NOTES
-- Navy has scored eight goals this year after scoring 11 all of last year.
-- Navy has had seven players score goals this year after having seven players score goals all of last year.
-- Michael Rakoczy has scored points in three of his first four career games. He has six points (2 g, 2 a) so far this year.
-- Four Navy freshmen have scored goals this year.
-- Navy's 3-1-0 start matches the best since the 2001 season. The 2005 team started 4-1-0.
-- The Mids have scored at least two goals in three games this year. The Mids scored at least two goals just three times in 18 games last fall.
-- Tyler Bristol had seven saves over the two games, against just one goal. Saturday's shutout was the first of his career.

# GO NAVY #