Oct. 16, 2007
Box Score
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Junior Adam Pennington scored in the 85th minute to lead Navy to a stunning 1-0 victory over 20th-ranked West Virginia on Tuesday night. The win snapped a three-game winless streak and pushed Navy's record to 6-4-2 overall, while West Virginia, the defending Big East champions, fell to 8-5-0.
West Virginia earned the No. 6 NCAA Tournament seed a year ago, and had defeated national powers Maryland and Duke earlier this year.
"We were very fortunate to win this game, as we absorbed every thing that West Virginia had in the last 20 minutes. Our defense was tired and we lacked some communication during that time, but we are very happy to get the win," said Navy head coach Rich Miranda. "That's the game of soccer. Usually, it only takes one and we got the break we needed."
After a long pass that Ryan Trespalacios (Lake City, Fla.) corraled, he slid a pass to Pennington, a forward from Tampa, Fla., who got in behind the defense. Pennington calmly slid the shot into the net past Mountaineer goalie Zach Johnson for his third goal of the season. The assist was Trespalacios' first of his career.
"Tres hasn't seen a whole lot of action this year, but I had a gut feeling about him. He had been practicing very well and he made a great play tonight," said Miranda. Trespalacios had been in the game for six minutes before the goal.
Pennington's tally snapped a 412-minute scoreless streak for the Mids, dating back to a 3-0 win over Philadelphia University on Oct. 2, a stretch that spanned parts of five games.
West Virginia carried the majority of the play, but Miranda's defense stood tall, playing very composed and relaxed against the Mountaineeer attack.
"We knew they would carry the play and be the aggressor," said Miranda. "It was our strategy to make them beat 11 players and play a very defensive game. Fortunately, we took advantage of our offensive chances. We played very well defensively, with the exception of about 15 minutes. We stuck to the gameplan tonight and it worked out very well."
Neither team had many solid offensive chances in the contest. The Mids held West Virginia without a shot until the 24th minute. In the 43rd minute, a Mountaineer shot hit the crossbar, while Navy had a pair of good looks in the 70th minute.
Senior goalkeeper Thomas Jenkins (Franklin, N.C.) made three saves while recording his third shutout of 2007 and fifth of his career. He now owns a sizzling .909 save percentage and a 0.41 GAA. He has allowed just two goals in 436 minutes this year.
The Mids were outshot, 13-7, while West Virginia drew nine corner kicks to Navy's four. West Virginia was whistled for 16 fouls compared to just 12 for Navy.
"Hopefully, this win will give us the confidence and boost we need for the rest of the year," said Miranda. "We have a huge game on Saturday night and we are hoping we can pack the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility on Saturday after the football game."
Navy will host Holy Cross for Senior Night at 7:00 pm on Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Fans that attend Saturday afternoon's football game against Wake Forest can gain free admission into the soccer game by showing their football ticket stub at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility entrance. Other promotions include Alumni Night and Group Appreciation Night. For ticket information, call 1-800-US4-NAVY and for other promotional information, call 410-293-8785.
# GO NAVY #
