Oct. 23, 2009
Box Score
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Junior Carissa Youker (Potomac, Md.) scored her conference-leading eighth goal of the season in the late stages of the first half and classmate Christine Calderon (Yorktown, Va.) added an important insurance tally in the 53rd minute as the Navy women's soccer team (12-3-2, 3-1-1 PL) registered a key 2-1 road victory over league foe Lehigh (7-4-5, 1-2-2 PL) on Friday night from the Ulrich Sports Complex.
With the win, the Midshipmen pick up an important three points and further strengthen their hold on one of the conference's four postseason playoff berths. Navy is tied with Colgate for third place in the Patriot League standings with identical 3-1-1 marks (10 pts) and just two games to play.
Navy can clinch its fourth-consecutive Patriot League Tournament berth with a win or tie on Sunday afternoon at Lafayette (3-11-2, 0-5-0 PL).
"That was a great road win for us in a game we really needed to have," said Navy head coach Carin Gabarra. "We made the most of our chances and really played a sound game defensively. I thought Kelsey Learned, in particular, was outstanding tonight and really dominated the center of the field for us. Beth (Reed) and the entire backline was solid once again and really helped hold them without many quality chances."
On a cold and rainy evening, nearly 40 minutes were played before Navy managed to record its first attempt on goal. Fortunately for the Mids, Carissa Youker made that initial shot count as the third-year forward converted a breakaway opportunity set up by freshman teammate Brittany Fruin (Reston, Va.) at the 39:42 mark to give Navy a 1-0 advantage.
Fruin played a through ball between two Lehigh defenders and Youker ran onto the serve and finished the 1-v-1 chance, dribbling by the charging Lehigh keeper to put the Mids on top. Navy would take that lead into the half despite being outshot by a 12-2 margin.
Just seven minutes and 27 seconds into the second half, a Navy corner kick yielded Christine Calderon's career-high fifth goal of the season. Calderon received the ball at the top of the box off a Lehigh clear attempt and rocketed a half-volley to the upper-right corner of the net to give the Mids a two-goal lead.
The two Navy goals were scored over a 12-minute, 35-second span and were the end-product of the Midshipmen's only two shots on goal over the 90-minute contest.
Despite a great disparity in shots (LU, 22-4) and shots on goal (LU, 8-2), Lehigh finished with 22 attempts to Navy's two), the host Mountain Hawks failed to generate many quality chances in the flow of the match.
Inside the final five minutes, however, Lehigh would cut the deficit in half as senior Liz Carlos put home a rebound off a set piece just outside the box.
Trailing 2-1, the Mountain Hawks pushed forward and pressed hard for the equalizer, but they failed to capitalize on a pair of set pieces inside the 90th minute, sending both free kicks both out of play, and the Mids walked away with their third conference victory of the year.
Senior goalkeeper and Navy team captain Beth Reed (Indianapolis, Ind.) recorded seven saves (four in the first half) en route to posting 18th career victory.
The Mids will now head to Easton, Pa. to take on Lafayette on Sunday in a contest scheduled for a 1:00 pm start. A win against the Leopards will clinch a fourth-consecutive Patriot League Tournament berth for the Midshipmen. Navy has won 16-straight matches versus Lafayette since 1994.
Match Notes:
*Navy's win really clears up the Patriot League playoff picture as American and Bucknell both clinch postseason berths and the Mids and Raiders have now put a full five points between them and the next-closet squad with just two games to play.
*Youker now has a conference-leading 21 points (8 g, 5 a) on the season.
*Dating back to 2007, Navy has won 29-straight matches when scoring first.
*With her 86th consecutive start, senior center back Shelly Moeller (Milford, Ohio) tied former standout Justine Fisher's ('02) school record for career games started.
2009 Patriot League Standings (As of Oct. 23)Standings PL Pts*Bucknell 4-1-0 12*American 4-1-0 12Navy 3-1-1 10Colgate 3-1-1 10Lehigh 1-1-2 5Holy Cross 1-3-1 4Army 1-3-1 4Lafayette 0-5-0 0
*Clinched playoff berths
This Weekend's Patriot League Schedule10/22 Bucknell 1, Army 0 West Point, N.Y.10/22 Colgate 2, Holy Cross 1 (2OT) Worcester, Mass.
10/23 American 1, Lafayette 0 Easton, Pa.10/23 Navy 2, Lehigh 1 Bethlehem, Pa.
10/25 American @ Lehigh Bethlehem, Pa. 1:00 pm10/25 Bucknell @ Holy Cross Worcester, Mass. 1:00 pm10/25 Navy @ Lafayette Easton, Pa. 1:00 pm10/25 Colgate @ Army West Point, N.Y. 4:00 pm
## GO NAVY! ##
