April 1, 2008
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy jumped out to a 9-2 halftime lead then held off a furious American rally in the second half for a 13-12 victory on a warm Tuesday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Mids improved to 8-2 overall and 2-1 in the Patriot League. American, the preseason Patriot League favorite, drops to 5-7 overall and 3-1 in the league.
The win enabled Navy to take a big step into qualifying for the Patriot League Tournament at the end of the season. The Mids are 2-1 in league play, moving into a tie for third with Lehigh.
"I am just so proud of this team," said Navy head coach Cindy Timchal. "American is a very good team. Both teams played very hard and there was lots of drama, especially in the second half. Fortunately, we were ready to play right from the bat. Some things didn't go our way in the second half, but we hung on and that is very encouraging."
The Mids dominated the first 30 minutes of the contest, surging to leads of 8-0 and then 9-2 at halftime. Freshman Meg Decker scored three of Navy's first six goals of the contest and Katrina Nietsch and Erin Rawlick scored a pair each to help Navy to the halftime lead.
In the opening half, Navy outshot the Eagles, 17-10, and won eight draw controls to American's four.
The two teams then split the first four goals of the second half, before American started its rally. The Eagles scored five goals in an eight-minute stretch to cut the lead to 11-9 with over 16 minutes to play.
But Rawlick and Decker scored goals a minute apart to push the lead back to four at 13-12 with 11:32 to play.
American would not quit and tallied the next three goals, the last one coming with 56 seconds left, to trim the Navy advantage to one at 13-12.
The Eagles would have the opportunity to tie the game, gaining possession after a Navy turnover, but turned the ball over themselves with 25 seconds left. Navy then ran out the clock for its second Patriot League victory of the season.
Navy remained undefeated at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with the victory, boasting an 8-0 mark at the facility.
"We just get excited to play at home. You come in here with all the history and the battle names on the wall, it gets us fired up," said Decker, who led the Mids with four goals and now has 44 points (34 g, 10 a) on the season. "When you are on this field, you are representing your school and your country and we want to protect our home field."
Sophomore Erin Rawlick also scored four goals and now leads the team with 52 points (40 g, 12 a).
"They (Rawlick and Decker) are obviously our go-to players. They are great finishers and both made huge plays down the stretch when American had all the momentum," said Timchal.
American turned the game around in the second half, thanks to a reversal in draw controls. The Eagles won nine-of-15 draws in the second half, including nine of the first 12.
"We didn't have the ball a ton in the second half, so when we had it, we really needed to work it around and control the clock," said Timchal. "We did a good job of that, but it can still get better. We just needed to regroup and refocus."
Amanda Towey contributed three points (1 g, 2 a) and Mary Ruttum (1 g, 1 a) and Nietsch (2 g) added two points each.
Natalie Blandon stopped eight shots in goal, including six in the first half.
The Mids will now look for their first road win of the season on Saturday with a noon contest at Lehigh.
"We haven't done so well on the road this year, so that is our next goal," said Timchal. "We will get back to practice this week and focus our efforts on our road trip this weekend."
# GO NAVY #
