Oct. 16, 2009

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Winners of two straight and unbeaten in its last four matches, the Navy women's soccer team (11-2-2, 2-0-1 PL) looks to carry the momentum of last weekend's two key Patriot League victories into Saturday afternoon's road tilt at Bucknell (7-6-1, 2-1-0 PL) . Kickoff is scheduled for a 1:00 pm start at Emmitt Field.

Live stats will be available for Saturday's game versus the Bison through GameTracker on NavySports.com, while fans can also watch a live webcast of the match at BucknellBison.com. In-game updates will also be available via the official Navy Athletics Twittter page at Twitter.com/NavyAthletics.

GameTracker - Navy / Bucknell | Live Webcast | Follow Navy Athletics on Twitter

As of Late
The Mids are riding high after earning six points in the league standings thanks to back-to-back 2-0 shutout wins over Army and Holy Cross last weekend in Annapolis. Navy, one of two remaining unbeaten teams in Patriot League play, enters the week sitting in second-place in the conference standings, behind first-place American (8-7-0, 3-0-0). The Mids are the only team yet to allow a goal against through three league contests. Navy has not lost a regular-season conference game since October 19, 2006, an unbeaten stretch of 16 consecutive matches (11-0-5).

Big Crowd, Big Win Over Army
The fans came out in droves for Navy's 2-0 Star Game victory over Army on Friday night as the contest was played before a Glenn Warner Soccer Facility record crowd of 2,627. It was the largest crowd in nine years of soccer at the facility, including both men's and women's contests. The largest previous crowd of 2,412 came on October 26, 2006 when the Mids upset then-No. 9-ranked Penn State. It was also the largest crowd for an Army-Navy women's soccer game in Annapolis, topping the mark of 2,605 for the Mids' 3-1 Star Game victory on October 20, 1999 at Dewey Field.

Navy Attendance Records
All-Time  Att. Opponent Date Facility
1. 6,527   No. 1 N. Carolina $  9/62/03      NMCMS
2. 2,627   Army                      10/9/09      GWSF
3. 2,605   Army                      10/20/99    Dewey Field
4. 2,412   No. 9 Penn State     10/26/06     GWSF
    2,412   Army                      9/20/97      Dewey Field

$ - The third-highest attendance for any regular season women's college soccer match in NCAA history.

Scouting Bucknell
The Bison are coming off a successful weekend of their own after sweeping Patriot League matches against Lafayette and Lehigh. After dropping a 3-1 decision at American in their conference opener, the Bison bounced back with a 2-1 win over the Leopards on Friday and an impressive 3-1 decision over Lehigh on Sunday. The two victories pushed Bucknell back over the .500 mark at 7-6-1 overall and 2-1-0 in the Patriot League, just one point behind Navy in third place in the conference standings.

Junior forward Christa Matlack, a First-Team All-Patriot League selection a year ago, paces the Bison in scoring with 12 points (5 g, 2 a) and is tied for second in the conference in points per game (1.0 pts/gm). Matlack earned Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday after recording five points over the weekend, highlighted by a two-goal effort against Lafayette.

Saturday's game will be Bucknell's Senior Day, the final regular-season home contest for six Bison seniors.

Navy and Bucknell have earned at least a share of the regular-season title twice in the last three seasons. They are the only two squads to reach the Patriot League Tournament in every year during that span.

Last season, the two teams went toe-to-toe in Annapolis with the Mids edging the Bison 1-0 in overtime on Kristen Laraway's 95th-minute winner.

The last six matchups between the Mids and Bison have been decided by just one goal, with each of the last three ending in a 1-0 final count.

The Navy-Bucknell Series
Overall: Navy, 11-6-1
In Annapolis: Tied, 4-4-1
In Lewisburg: Navy, 7-2-0
Current Streak: Navy, Win-2
Last-10: Navy, 6-4
Goals: Navy 32, Bucknell 18

A Winning Tradition
Navy's win over Army secured the program's 15th-consecutive season with 10 or more wins. The Midshipmen entered 2009 as one of 10 programs nationally (there are currently 321 DI women's soccer teams) to have won 10 or more games every season since 1998.

A Class Act
Navy's four-member Class of 2010 (Grijalva, Moeller, Reed, White) set a school record for most wins by a senior class with Sunday's 2-0 shutout of Holy Cross. Since this senior class' arrival in 2006, Navy has won more than 78 percent of its contests and owns a 61-13-10 record (21-2-1 ... 14-5-4 ... 15-4-3 ... 11-2-2). Both last year's heralded senior class and the Class of 2005 finished their careers with 60 victories.

Navy Soccer News & Notes
*For second time this season, the Mids have been recognized in the SoccerTimes.com Top-25 national poll, receiving one vote. Navy previously received eight votes in the Sept. 7 poll. -- SoccerTimes.com Top 25

* One week after falling out of the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region's top-10 rankings, Navy's strong weekend pushed the Mids nack up to No. 8 in the regional poll. -- NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings

*Navy also continues to be ranked in TopDrawerSoccer.com's Tournament 64 rankings, moving up to No. 46 in this week's NCAA Tournament projection. -- TopDrawerSoccer.com Tournament 64

*The Mids are currently one of only 17 teams in the nation with 11 or more wins. Only BYU (12-2-2), Portland (12-1-0), South Carolina (12-0-1) and Stanford (13-0-0) currently have more victories than Navy.

*Navy has not allowed a goal in four-straight matches and has shutout 10 of its 15 foes this season - marking the fourth-consecutive year of double-digit shutouts. Through 15 matches, the Mids have only allowed eights goals, while scoring 31. Entering the week, Navy owns the eighth-best goals-against average in the country at 0.51.

*Navy goalkeeper Beth Reed leads the Patriot League and ranks fifth in the nation in both goals-against average (0.46) and save percentage (.901). Her eight solo shutouts matches Lizzie Barnes ('09) senior class record established in 2008.

*The Patriot League named Navy senior center back Shelly Moeller its defensive player of the week for the third time this season on Monday afternoon, while senior team captain Beth Reed picked up goalkeeper of the week honors for the second time this fall. Moeller has now earned the weekly honor a conference-record 11 times in her career.

As a team, Navy has now garnered a conference-best 11 player-of-the-week certificates this season, with at least one player receiving one of the four weekly women's soccer honors in six of the seven weeks.

*Junior Carissa Youker paces the Patriot League's highest scoring offense with a career-best 19 points (7 g, 5 a). Youker is one of four double-digit pointscorers and five players with at least four goals on the Navy roster. Senior Brittany White has already matched her previous career-high in points with 13 (4 g, 5 a), while junior Christine Calderon and freshman Brittany Fruin have produced 11 and 10 points, respectively. Fruin continues to lead all league rookies in goals (4) and total points (10).

*Senior center back Shelly Moeller earned her 84th-consecutive start for the Mids on Sunday. Moeller's 84 career starts are tied for the second-most in school history. Former Navy standouts Julie Reynolds ('09) and Xochitl Piedra ('05) both finished their four-year careers with 84 starts.

*Sophomore back Katelyn George, who scored her first collegiate goal against Holy Cross, was the 11th different Navy player to score a goal this season. *Dating back to 2007, Navy has won 28-straight matches when scoring first.

*The Mids are 5-1-0 on the road this season.

*Navy has scored 20 of its 31 goals in the first half this season, while allowing just three first-half goals against.

Next Up
Navy continues its stretch of four-consecutive Patriot League road contests next weekend with a trip to the Lehigh Valley for matches at Lehigh (Oct. 23) and Lafayette (Oct. 25). The following weekend, Navy will make the short trip to the nation's capital to take on American (Oct. 31).

## GO NAVY! ##