Oct. 5, 2010
Final Stats
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Michael Rakoczy (So. / Cincinnati, Ohio) scored his fifth goal of the season in the 59th minute, but the Navy men's soccer team gave one right back just five minutes later, in drawing with Howard on a chilly night at Greene Stadium, 1-1, on Tuesday night.
The tie drops Navy's record to 6-2-1 overall. The tie was Navy's first draw of the Dave Brandt era.
"We are obviously disappointed with the result," said Navy head coach Dave Brandt. "To score a very good goal like we did, then to give one up on a bad defensive play is frustrating. We paid for it in the end. It's hard to score on an artificial turf surface against a packed defense, and then to give one up just minutes later is very disappointing."
After a first half in which Navy outshot the Bison, 5-1, the Mids finally broke through in the 59th minute on Rakoczy's fifth goal of the season. Rakoczy took a pass, dribbled into the middle of the field and sent a 17-yard blast just under the crossbar in the left corner to give Navy a 1-0 advantage. Rakoczy's five goals have come on just eight shots this season.
However, Howard answered just seven minutes later when Ray Ekobena picked up a loose ball after a Navy turnover in its own zone and dribbled unimpeded to the right slot and chipped the ball into the net from a tough angle to tie the contest at one.
Navy continued to dominate, basically spending the entire second half and overtime periods in the Howard zone, outshooting the Bison, 12-5, but could not penetrate the packed-in Howard defense.
The Mids outshot Howard, 17-6, and drew nine corner kicks to Howard's two. Larry Turner made seven saves for the Bison, while Aaron Dupere (Fr. / Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) stopped one shot in goal.
Navy is now 14-0-1 under Dave Brandt when scoring at least one goal, and the Mids gave up just their second second-half goal all season long, now outscoring foes, 15-2, in the game's final 45 minutes.
The Mids will return home on Saturday night to host Lehigh in the Patriot League home opener, beginning at 7:00 pm from the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
# GO NAVY #
