July 21, 2009
2009 Schedule
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Head coach Carin Gabarra recently announced the Navy women's soccer schedule for the upcoming 2009 season. The challenging 20-game regular-season slate features eight opponents which won 10 or more contests a year ago and three 2008 NCAA College Cup participants.
The Midshipmen will open their 17th season of varsity competition on the road with a two-game jaunt through South Carolina where they will take on the University of South Carolina-Upstate on Aug. 21 before traveling to Florence, S.C. to take on Francis Marion on the 23rd. The August 21st start date marks the earliest start to a season in program history.
Navy returns to Annapolis the following weekend to host the first of nine contests at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, where the Mids have been dominant over the last three seasons, posting a 33-4-3 (.862) mark.
Navy will play host to a pair of first-time opponents during the 10th annual Navy Soccer Invitational the weekend of Aug. 28-30. Navy, Boise State, Fairleigh Dickinson and Rider will be featured over the two-day, four-game showcase. Navy kicks off the action on Friday against FDU before battling a strong Boise State side on Sunday. The Broncos won a school-record 11 games and reached the semifinals of the WAC Tournament a year ago.
Labor Day weekend, as most soccer players, coaches, parents and fans know, is tournament time and that holds true for the Mids, who will travel to Coral Gables, Fla. to take part in the University of Miami Soccer Invite. Navy will square off with a pair of formidable squads during the weekend, taking on Dayton (15-6-1 in 2008) on Friday before facing its first of three NCAA Tournament squads in the host Hurricanes (10-9-3 in 2008) on Sunday afternoon.
The difficult non-conference stretch continues back in Annapolis on Sept. 11 against James Madison in the first of three-straight home matches. The Dukes won 14 games in 2008 and reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 2008 College Cup with wins over Georgia and third-seeded Wake Forest. Navy closes out the brief home stand with matches against Liberty on Sept. 13 and VMI on Sept. 18.
Before opening league play, Navy takes to the road for three-consecutive non-conference matches, highlighted by its first meeting with Monmouth since 1996. The Hawks, who like the Mids advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2007, are coming off a strong season with a 14-7-2 overall mark.
The Patriot League slate of games starts with a pair of big home matches against perennial contender Colgate (Oct. 2) and archrival Army (Oct. 9). The Mids have amassed a 9-3-1 mark in their last 13 meetings against the Raiders, including last season's pair of 1-0 victories, the latter of which came in overtime and ended Colgate's season in the league semifinals.
A week off is all the Midshipmen women will have to gear up for the always-spirited annual Army-Navy Star Game. The two sides played to a scoreless draw in last year's match in West Point and then met again in the Patriot League final in Annapolis, where the Black Knights grinded out a 1-0 double-overtime win. Headed into 2009, Navy maintains a narrow 9-8-2 lead in the all-time A-N series, thanks to the 9-3-2 mark its produced in the rivalry since the 1998 season.
Two days after the Mids and Black Knights square off, a Holy Cross squad that is on-the-rise will pay a visit to Glenn Warner Soccer Facility on Oct. 11. Although Navy owns a commanding 12-2-1 edge in the all-time series, the Mids were pushed to the limit by the Crusaders in a high-scoring, double-overtime victory last year in Worcester, Mass.
Navy closes out conference play with a string of four-straight road contests beginning in Lewisburg, Pa. against Bucknell (Oct. 17) and followed by contests at Lehigh (Oct. 23), Lafayette (Oct. 25) and in Washington, D.C. against American (Oct. 31).
The Mids edged the Bison 1-0 in overtime in the league opener for both teams a year ago, marking the sixth-consecutive match between the two programs which has been decided by a single goal. The Navy and Bucknell programs have earned at least a share of the regular-season title twice in the last three seasons and are the only two squads to reach the Patriot League Tournament in each year over that span.
Navy produced victories over both Lehigh (2-0) and Lafayette (4-0), while playing American to a scoreless draw a year ago in Annapolis.
The Mids wrap up their regular-season slate when regional foe Howard visits Annapolis for a Senior Day affair on November 1.
After reaching the conference final in each of the last three seasons, Navy will look to once again be one of the four teams playing in the 2009 Patriot League Tournament set for Nov. 6 and 8. The games will be played at the site of the top-seeded team.
The Midshipmen return six starters, 15 letterwinners and a pair of conference all-stars from a 2008 squad that posted a 15-4-3 record and claimed the program's seventh Patriot League regular-season title in the last 11 years.
SCHEDULE NOTES
• August 21 marks the earliest start date of a season in program history
• Eight Navy opponents won 10 or more games in 2008
• Three Navy opponents earned berths into the 2008 NCAA College Cup (Army, Miami, JMU)
• Navy will face five first-time opponents (USC Upstate, FDU, Boise State, Dayton, Miami)
## Go Navy! ##
