Oct. 23, 2007
Box Score
FARMVILLE, Va. -- The Navy men's soccer program became the 12th team in NCAA history to win 600 games thanks to a 2-1 victory at Longwood on Tuesday night. The Mids improved to 7-5-2 with the victory and became the third team this season (joining Loyola (Md.) and Indiana) to reach the 600-victory plateau. Navy's all-time record now stands at 600-337-121.
Navy had very few chances during the contest, accumulating just three shots on goal. Longwood outshot the Mids, 4-1, in the first 45 minutes, but neither team was able to find the goal during the first half.
"We tried a new system in the first half and it didn't work very well. We were flat and unorganized and didn't play very well. We were lucky to get out of there tied," said Navy head coach Rich Miranda.
Longwood (3-8-2) struck first as Martin Vickerton took a pass from Brian Germain and one-timed a shot past Evan Barnes (Dublin, Ohio) in the 52nd minute for a 1-0 advantage.
However, Navy wouldn't fold and got the equalizer on a Adam Pennington (Tampa, Fla.) header off a Mark Garcia (Tempe, Ariz.) corner kick to tie the score at 1-1 in the 64th minute.
Garcia then set up Doug DeVuono (Racine, Wis.) for the game-winner in the 83rd minute. Garcia took a misplayed ball by the Longwood defense and sent a pass to DeVuono, who flicked a shot past Lancers' goalkeeper Bryandt Youmans.
DeVuono and Pennington both scored their team-leading fourth goals of the season, while Garcia has dished out five assists, the most for a Navy player since Brye Gerhardt dealt out six helpers in 2001.
"We came out in the second half, made some adjustments and played much better," said Miranda. "We battled hard. It was one of those games where we couldn't find a rhythm, but just battled and made a play when we needed it."
The Mids were dealt a blow on both ends of the field, as Pennington and team captain Will Riordon (Oak Ridge, N.C.) both left the field with injuries. Pennington will likely miss Saturday's game with Colgate, while Riordon is questionable.
"We're struggling right now with injuries. We have already lost Andrew Garcia, which at the time was a major loss for us, but to lose Pennington as well really hurts us offensively. He was a big target for us and gave us some goal-scoring ability. Riordon has been probably our most steady defenseman. We need him on the field," added Miranda.
Navy scored on both of its second-half shot attempts, and won the contest despite getting outshot, 12-3. Longwood drew seven corner kicks to Navy's three and were whistled for 16 fouls to Navy's 10. Barnes recorded a season-high eight saves in goal to earn his fourth win of the year. Barnes made a game-saving stop in the 60th minute on a Longwood breakaway that would have given the Lancers a two-goal lead.
"Barnes played a great game. He bailed us out several times," said Miranda. "The save he made on the breakaway really gave us some momentum."
Navy concluded its non-conference portion of the schedule with a brilliant 7-1-2 record and now sport a 4-1-0 record in true road games. Navy's four road wins are the most for the team since 1999 (4-1-2) and the 7-1-2 non-conference record is the program's best since the 2001 team went 8-1-1 in non-conference action.
Navy will now end the season with three straight Patriot League games, beginning Saturday night at Colgate. Kick-off is slated for 7:00 pm and live video streaming is available online on the Colgate website (www.gocolgateraiders.com) for $9.95.
# GO NAVY #
