Oct. 17, 2008
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's soccer team faces a tall task this weekend as it travels to Holy Cross for a 3:00 pm Saturday kickoff in Worcester, Mass. The Mids enter the contest with an 4-8-2 overall mark and are 0-3-0 in the Patriot League. Holy Cross, meanwhile, is 6-2-3 overall and 2-0-1 in the Patriot League, leading the conference with seven points, one point ahead of both Bucknell and Colgate.
Navy enters the contest on six-game winless streak (0-5-1) and is just 1-7-1 in its last nine games after starting the year 3-1-1. Navy has struggled to find the scoring touch as evidenced in its current streak. The Mids have been shut out in five straight games, matching a school record set in 2002, and have gone a school-record 569 minutes without scoring a goal, dating back six games to Navy's last tally, which came in the ninth of a 2-1 overtime loss against Bucknell on Sept. 27.
Navy has been outscored over the last nine games, 14-2, after scoring eight goals and allowing seven tallies in the first five games of the season.
However, Navy showed its resiliency on Tuesday night at Howard, stopping a five-game losing streak in a 0-0 tie with the Bison. It was Navy's fourth shutout of the season, and gave Navy its second tie.
Mike Porcelli (So. / West Islip, N.Y.) leads Navy with six points on three goals, while Chris Marino (Jr. / Longwood, Fla.) has added five points (2 g, a). Mark Garcia (Jr. / Tempe, Ariz.) has scored four points (1 g, 2 a) and senior captain Adam Pennington (Tampa, Fla.) has three points (1 g, 1 a). Four other players have added two points.
Porcelli is the only Navy player to record goals in the last nine contests, netting goals against Birmingham Southern and Bucknell. The last time a Navy player other than Porcelli scored a goal came in the Sept. 12 contest against Saint Joseph's, when freshman Sam Miller (Tulsa, Okla.) scored his first career netter.
Nolan Grebb (Sr. / Woodbury, N.J.) has played all but 175 minutes in goal, recording a .763 save percentage and a 1.36 GAA. Grebb leads the league with 58 saves and his four shutouts are the second most in the Patriot League. He is second in the conference is saves per game (4.46).
Holy Cross, which was selected eighth in the preseason a year ago and won the league title, has put itself in position to repeat after beating Colgate (1-0) and Bucknell (2-1) and tying Lehigh (0-0) in its first three league games of the season. Holy Cross enters the game 5-1-2 in its last eight games after starting the year 1-1-1. The Crusaders have scored in every game but one (Lehigh), but have scored more than one goal in a game just three times this year. They are outscoring their foes, 13-8, on the season and outshooting opponents, 141-100. They have recorded five shutouts and have given up more than one goal just twice this year.
2007 Patriot League Rookie of the Year Kyle Miller and Jon Werth pace Holy Cross with six points each. Miller has three goals, while Werth has two goals and two assists. Alejandro Melean has five points (1 g, 3 a).
Thomas Booth has played every second in goal, registering a 0.68 GAA and an .840 save percentage. Booth leads the league in both categories, and is 25th nationally in GAA and 28th in save percentage.
Saturday's meeting will be the 19th meeting all-time between the two teams, with Holy Cross owning a 10-7-1 advantage. The Crusaders have won the last two meetings and own a 6-3-1 cushion in Worcester. Navy's last win over Holy Cross in Worcester came in a 1-0 victory on Sept. 30, 2000. The Mids have been shut out in their last four trips to Holy Cross.
Navy will open a two-game homestand following the contest with Holy Cross, concluding its home schedule. The Mids will host Colgate on Oct. 25, then will battle Lafayette on Nov. 1 for Senior Day. Both games will start at noon, prior to the home football game that day. For ticket information, call 1-800-US4-NAVY.
# GO NAVY #
