Sept. 3, 2011
Final Stats
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy overcame an early 1-0 deficit with a pair of goals in the final 25 minutes of the first half to defeat St. Francis (N.Y.), 2-1, on Saturday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The win improves Navy's record to 1-2-0, while St. Francis (N.Y.) falls to 0-2-1 overall.
"I thought we played really well in the first half, but were pretty sloppy in the second half," said Navy head coach Dave Brandt. "We had quite a few chances in the first half to score more goals and didn't convert them. It's good to get a win, but we still have some work to do."
Navy started the game strong, earning a penalty kick just a minute-and-a-half into the game after Alex Wilson (So. / Phoenix, Ariz.) drew a foul in the box after splitting the SFC defense. However, Wilson's penalty-kick attempt to the low right corner was batted away by the St. Francis (N.Y.) goalkeeper to keep the Mids off the board.
SFC then went up 1-0 in the 17th minute when Jonas Pantelidis took a pass from Gabriel Bagot on the right side, came in alone on Navy goalkeeper Aaron Dupere (So. / Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and sent a shot high into the top of the net for a 1-0 Terriers' lead.
Navy answered with a Micheal Rakoczy (Jr. / Cincinnati, Ohio) tally just three minutes later. Rakoczy made a great individual effort at the top of the box and sent a low, hard shot just inside the left post to knot the score at one. The goal was Rakoczy's first of the season, eighth of his career and was his 21st career point.
Then with just 35 seconds left before half, Navy took the lead for good on Eric Wootten's (Woodbridge, Va.) first goal of the year. Freshman Taylor Cook (Rocky Point, N.C.) served a perfect corner kick to a streaking Wootten, who headed the ball into the left corner for a 2-1 advantage.
The goal was Wootten's first goal since his freshman year and his third of his career. Two of his three career goals have been of the game-winning variety. The assist was Cook's first point of his career.
Navy then withstood a St. Francis (N.Y.) flurry in the second half, despite playing 28 minutes a man up after a Terriers' red card in the 54th minute. However, Navy's Billy Sweetman (Sr. / Austin, Texas) was sent off in the 82nd minute after his second yellow card of the match, evening up the lineups at 10-on-10.
The Terriers outshot Navy in the second half, 11-5, after the Mids outshot SFC, 13-4, in the opening 20 minutes.
"We need to do a much better job closing out games," said Brandt. "We got a little sloppy in the second half and we just need to be more crisp."
Navy outshot the Terriers, 18-15, and drew eight corner kicks to SFC's five. Dupere made six saves in goal for the second straight game, including a game-saver on a 1-on-1 with 12 minutes left in the contest.
The Mids will host a strong Loyola (Md.) team on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 7:00 pm at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
# GO NAVY #
