Aug. 28, 2008
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ANNAPOLIS, Md.-- The Navy women's soccer team returns to action this weekend as they head to the West Coast to play in a pair of contests beginning on Friday evening against No. 10 Stanford. After squaring off with the nationally-ranked Cardinal, the Mids close out the weekend on Sunday with another tough test against a strong UC-Davis program.
The cross-country trip marks the program's eighth visit to the Golden State. It will also serve as a home-coming of sorts for junior Jen Grijalva, who's hometown of Pleasantown, Calif. is jsut over an hour away from both campuses. Sophomore Traci Willemse (Running Springs, Calif.) and head coach Carin Gabarra (Palos Verdes, Calif.), round out Navy's trio of California natives.
SCOUTING STANFORD
The No. 10 Stanford women's soccer team (1-0-0) opened up the 2008 season with a 5-0 victory over Pacific on Sunday. The Cardinal scored all five goals in the first half during a span of 19 minutes ... Sophomore Christen Press, the 2007 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, delivered an impressive two-goal, one-assist effort, earning TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Week honors ... Friday will mark the second meeting between the two programs ... Stanford won a 2-1 decision in the inaugural meeting during the 2005 season ... The Cardinal, who were selected as the Pac-10 preseason favorite ahead of last year's national champion USC and perennial power UCLA, return 18 letterwinners including its leading scorer from a 2007 squad that posted a 15-3-5 mark and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.
SCOUTING UC DAVIS
UC Davis (1-1-0) has split its first two games this fall, posting a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Fresno State after dropping a 2-1 overtime decision in its opener at Saint Mary's ... Senior Gabina Bohlman leads the Aggies through two games with three points on a goal and an assist ... The Aggies will host San Jose State on Friday in their 2008 home opener ... Sunday's matchup is the first meeting between the two programs ... The Aggies return eight starters and 17 letterwinners from last year's squad that finished 6-12 overall and ninth in the competitive Big West conference.
LARAWAY EARNS NATIONAL RECOGNITION FROM SOCCER AMERICA
After scoring a collegiate-best two goals, including the game-winner in Navy's season-opening 3-0 victory over Vermont, senior Kristen Laraway (Long Valley, N.J.) was named to the Soccer America Women's Team of the Week, the publication announced Tuesday.
Laraway, who on Monday was named the Patriot League/BRINE Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, is the eighth Navy player to garner the national laurel, and the first since current junior Shelly Moeller earned the mention in 2006. The Long Valley, N.J., native netted the eventual winner just 2:58 into the contest and later added her second tally in the 76th minute to complete her first career multi-goal game.
Soccer America's Team of the Week honors the top 11 performers around the nation for their efforts over the previous week. To be among those recognized is considered one of the top honors available during the regular season.
HOME SWEET HOME
Saturday's victory stretched Navy's home unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1) dating back to last season. The contest was the first of 13 the Midshipmen will host at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, where they turned in an undefeated mark (9-0-1) in 2007 and boast an impressive 24-1-1 record (.946) since the beginning of the 2006 season.
NAVY NOTEBOOK Dating back to the 1994 season, Navy has now won 14 consecutive home openers. The Mids are 14-2 all-time in their game played in Annapolis ... Three Navy seniors (
Kristen Laraway,
CiAnna Weikle and
Carey Young) registered a point in the 2008 opener ... Laraway fired a collegiate-high seven shots - all on goal - against Vermont. The Midshipmen outshot the visiting Catamounts, 29-3, and generated 13 corner kicks, 10 in the first 45 minutes of action alone ... Senior goalkeeper
Lizzie Barnes, Navy's all-time leader in GAA (0.65), save percentage (84.5), enters the weekend with 21 career shutouts - just one shy of tying Kim Bonafede `05 for the program record ...The Mids own a 1-10-1 all-time record against ranked opponents ... Navy has played at least one ranked opponent in each of the last six seasons ... The Mids return an experienced group with a program-record eight seniors and 15 of the 19 letterwinners back from last year's NCAA Tournament squad.
MOELLER VOTED TOP DEFENDER, MIDS TABBED AS LEAGUE FAVORITE
Junior Shelly Moeller (Milford, Ohio), a two-time All-Patriot League defender and a Soccer Buzz Freshman All-American in 2006, was tabbed Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and the Navy women's soccer team was selected as the favorite to win the league crown for a third consecutive season according to the 2008 Patriot League Preseason Women's Soccer Poll. The Midshipmen, who have won two consecutive Patriot League postseason titles and three in the last five years, were the recipients of four first-place votes and 88 total points.
NEXT UP
The Mids return home where they will host to a pair of first-time opponents at the Navy Soccer Invitational during the weekend of Sept. 5-7. Navy, Central Connecticut State, Delaware and Winthrop will be featured in the two-day, four-game tournament. Navy kicks off tournament play Friday against Winthrop (Sept. 5) and closes out the weekend action on Sunday against Central Connecticut (Sept. 7).
