March 8, 2012

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's soccer team is set to begin its 2012 spring schedule with a trip to Spain and England over spring break to tour the countries and play two matches. The Mids will also take on a number of other local college teams during the remainder of their spring training season.

This weekend, the team will embark on a nine-day trip to Europe, first going to Barcelona, Spain and then Madrid. The program will also spend a day in England. While in Spain, Navy will have multiple training sessions and also play two games against two teams from Spain's top club league, the Primera Division (formerly known as the Superliga).

Navy will play RCD Espanyol de Barcelona on March 11 and will also take on Rayo Vallencano de Madrid on March 15. The team also has a number of sightseeing trips and exploratory time in its itinerary.

"We are really looking forward to our spring break trip to Europe," head coach Carin Gabarra said. "We are going to be doing a lot of things culturally and we will also be getting two games in against very high-quality opponents. The trip will be great for building camaraderie and bringing the team closer together and we know that will pay off in the future."

Goalkeeper Elizabeth Hoerner will be documenting Navy's travels in Europe and her spring break blog will be posted on NavySports.com in the coming weeks.

Navy's lone home game of the spring will be against Georgetown on March 23 at 7 pm at Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.

The Mids will play a pair of games at Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Md. on April 1 before playing at Loyola on April 4. Navy will also play in two tournaments, first participating in the B+ Showcase in Delaware on April 14 and also playing in the Headers for Hope competition in Germantown, Md.

"We are going to be working on a lot of functional training this spring and will really be fine-tuning our game," Gabarra said. "We are very proud of our performance last fall, but we realize we are a young team and we have a lot of room for growth."

Navy posted a 13-6-3 overall record in 2011 and a 4-2-1 mark in conference play. Navy was the Patriot League Tournament runner-up and finished with a winning record for the 17th-consecutive year.

The Mids will return nine starters in 2012, as well as eight players who scored at least three goals.

Navy 2012 Spring Schedule
Date    	Opponent        	Location        	Time
March 12	at RCD Espanyol 	Barcelona, Spain	6:30 pm local time
March 15	at Rayo Vallecano	Madrid, Spain		8:00 pm local time
March 23 	vs. Georgetown  	Annapolis, Md.		7:00 pm
April 1		vs. George Mason	Emmitsburg, Md.		12:30 pm
April 1		vs. Towson      	Emmitsburg, Md.		3:00 pm
April 4		at Loyola (Md.) 	Baltimore, Md. 		7:00 pm
April 14	at B+ Showcase  	New Castle, Del.
		vs. Delaware					11:30 am
		vs. Villanova					2:30 pm
April 21	Headers for Hope	Germantown, Md.
		vs. Maryland Capitols (WPSL)			10:30 am
		vs. William & Mary				1:30 pm