Sept. 16, 2008

Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's soccer team struggled offensively and dropped a 1-0 decision to a strong George Washington team on a perfect Tuesday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The loss ended Navy's modest three-game winning streak and dropped the Mids to 3-2-1 overall.

Navy mustered just six shots for the game, with just one coming on goal. Navy totaled two shots during the second half.

"I thought it was a well-fought game by both teams. We knew it was going to take a heck of a goal to beat us tonight and it did," said Navy head coach Rich Miranda. "We played hard and disrupted the way they wanted to play. We just didn't make the adjustments we needed to and didn't have enough possession to win the game tonight."

After an uneventful first half, with very few chances for both teams, George Washington broke the scoreless tie on Andy Stadler's fifth goal of the year. Stadler caught the Navy defense by surprise, scoring on a blast from 20 yards out inside the right post in the 54th minute.

"I typically don't like giving up near-post goals, but it was such a great shot that didn't come in the flow of the offense and really caught Nolan (Grebb) by surprise," said Miranda. "It was just a heck of a shot that beat us tonight."

After the GWU goal, the Colonials played a very defensive game, dropping its defense back well into its own end. The result was little room for the Navy offense to maneuver.

"Teams are starting to scout us and we need to be able to make the adjustments," said Miranda. "Instead of playing behind the defense, when it drops so far back, we need to play at them and find some space in their defense. We need to do a better job possessing the ball in the offensive third and play the ball at our feet more. I like the way we are heading, but we have to be able to make some adjustments."

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak, the team's longest since 2005, but Miranda is still encouraged by the team's play in the last four games.

"We have done a good job over the last four games and have made some progress," said Miranda. "Now that teams are finding out who we are and what we are doing, we have to tweak some things and improve on some things. When teams drop off defensively, we need more possession."

George Washington outshot the Mids, 15-6, and drew four corner kicks to Navy's one. Navy was whistled for 16 fouls to GWU's 13. Grebb made three saves in goal for the Midshipmen.

Navy will head south for the Birmingham Southern Soccer Classic on Friday and Sunday. The Mids will play service-academy rival Air Force on Friday at 6:00 pm (ET) in Birmingham, Ala. Navy will battle the host, Birmingham Southern, on Sunday at 2:30 pm (ET).

# GO NAVY #