Oct. 8, 2010

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GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Lehigh (4-4-1 / 1-1-0 PL) at Navy (6-2-1 / 1-1-0 PL)
Saturday, October 9 • 7:00 pm (ET)
Annapolis, Md. • Glenn Warner Soccer Facility (2,500)

TICKET INFORMATION
• Tickets can be purchased prior to the game at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility ticket window, or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY on Friday.

SHUTTLE INFORMATION
• Shuttles will run from the West side of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, beginning at 6:00 pm. The shuttle will drop you off right at the front door of the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. With the Boat Show taking place in Annapolis (ends at 6:30 on Saturday night), make sure to board the Naval Academy blue buses. School buses will take you to the Boat Show.

Game Overview
• The Navy men's soccer team will finally play its Patriot League home opener on Saturday night, hosting Lehigh at 7:00 pm at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The Mids are 6-2-1 overall and 1-1-0 in the Patriot League, while Lehigh is 4-4-1 overall and 1-1-0 in league play.

Looking Back
• Navy tied Howard in its last outing, a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night. Michael Rakoczy scored in the 59th minute, but the Bison struck back just moments later to knot the game at one. Despite outshooting the Bison, 17-6, Navy couldn't get the game-winner and drew with the Bison, 1-1. The Mids are coming off a 2-0 loss to Bucknell in their last Patriot League game a week ago.
• Lehigh is coming off a 1-0 win over rival Lafayette last Saturday night, but is 1-2-0 in its last three games, falling to Colgate (1-0) and the College of Charleston (3-0).

Scouting Lehigh
• The Mountain Hawks enter Saturday's contest with a 4-4-1 overall record and is 1-1-0 in league play. Lehigh has defeated Rutgers (3-0), Princeton (3-2), Furman (1-0) and Lafayette (1-0) this year, while falling to Fordham (1-0), Towson (2-1), College of Charleston (3-0) and Colgate (1-0). Lehigh tied La Salle (0-0).
• Lehigh has managed just nine goals in nine games this year, while also giving up nine goals. It has been shut out four times in 2010, including twice in the last three games. Leading the Lehigh offense is Joe Puleo with four goals. Austin Decker has added two goals, while Kevin Strunk has three assists. Lehigh is getting outshot, 110-98, on the year.
• Jonathan Nydell has played all but 3:13 in goal, registering a 0.98 GAA and a .795 save percentage. He has posted four shutouts in goal.

The Series
• Overall: Navy leads, 29-16-6
• In Annapolis: Navy leads, 22-8-5
• At GWSF: Lehigh leads, 4-0
• In Bethlehem: Tied, 7-7-1
• Current Streak: Navy, 1-0-0
• Navy snapped a nine-match losing streak to Lehigh with last year's 2-1 overtime victory ... the Mids have yet to beat Lehigh at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility ... after going 20-4-6 in its first 30 meetings against Lehigh, Navy is just 2-12-0 in the last 14 games ... the 51 series meetings are the third most against one opponent ... Navy has scored just seven goals in the last 14 meetings against the Mountain Hawks.

Weekly Accolades Roll in For Midshipmen
• Navy has now won seven weekly honors from the Patriot League, surpassing the total number it won from 2007-09 combined (6). In addition, sophomore Michael Rakoczy earned a national honor on Sept. 27 as he was named to the CollegeSoccerNews.com Team of the Week for his goal against Army.
• Dave Arnold -- PL Rookie of the Week (Oct. 4)
• Alex Foskett -- PL Def. POW (Sept. 27)
• Michael Rakoczy -- PL Off. POW (Sept. 20)
• Patrick Sopko -- PL Rookie of Week (Sept. 13)
• Martin Sanchez -- PL Def. POW (Sept. 13)
• Dave Arnold -- PL Off. POW (Sept. 7)
• Patrick Sopko -- PL Rookie of Week (Sept. 7)

More About Navy
• Navy is ranked fourth in the NSCAA / HeadrickCars.com Middle Atlantic regional poll thanks to its 6-2-1 start.
• Navy has surpassed last year's goal-scoring output already with 19 goals in nine games ... Navy scored 17 goals in 19 games all of last year.
• Navy gave up two goals in a game for the first time all season in the loss to Bucknell ... the Mids are still outscoring opponents, 19-6, on the season.
• Navy is 4-0-0 at home this season, outscoring its opponents 14-1 at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility ... Navy has three home games remaining (Lehigh, Colgate, Lafayette).
• The Mids have outscored opponents, 15-2, in the second half this year ... in the first half, Navy and its opponents have each scored four goals.
• In games that Navy scores at least one goal in the Brandt era, the Mids are 14-0-1 ... in games that Navy fails to score, the Mids are 0-13-0.
• In games that Navy outshoots its opponent this year, Navy is 4-0-1 ... when it fails to do so, the Mids are 2-2-0.
• The Mids are 1-1 in one-goal games this year ... of Navy's six wins, five have come by two or more goals.
• With Dave Arnold (12 points) and Michael Rakoczy (10 points) being in double-figure scoring, Navy has two double-figure scorers for the first time since the 2005 season ... in that year, J.P. Murphy (12 points) and Addy Strasdas (10 points) reached double-figures.
• In addition, Navy has two five-goal scorers (Arnold and Rakoczy -- 5 each) for the first time since 2002 (Dan Montgomery - 6; Matt Sanchez - 5).
• Dave Arnold's five goals are tied for the fourth most by a Navy freshman in school history ... his 12 points are the sixth most and the most since Michael Paisant had 14 in 1997.
• Patrick Sopko's four assists are the fourth most by a Navy freshman in school history.

Following Navy Soccer
• There are many ways to follow Navy Soccer and Navy Athletics.
• The Navy Athletics' web site is www.NavySports.com(.) There, fans can access information about all 32 Navy teams, including rosters, stats, schedules and much, more more. In addition, live stats of every home game and select road games are available via Gametracker at NavySports.com(.)
• Fans can sign up to receive Navy Athletics' emails. To be on the Navy Athletics email list, simply go to https://lists.usna.edu/archives and follow directions to sign up.
• Lastly, fans can receive text message updates on their cell phones via Twitter at Twitter.com/NavyAthletics(.)

What's Next
• The Mids will hit the road for four straight road games, before coming home for the final two games of the regular season on Oct. 30 and Nov. 6 against Colgate and Lafayette, respectively.
• The following promotions are available for the Colgate game:
-- FREE ADMISSION: Receive free admission by showing your Duke Football ticket stub from earlier in the day.
-- Happy Halloween: Celebrate Halloween with the Navy Soccer team. There will be a Halloween costume contest and free candy for all.

# GO NAVY #