Sept. 7, 2011
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's soccer team jumped out to a 2-0 lead, then scored a late goal after Loyola, Md., had scored three unanswered tallies to tie the Greyhounds, 3-3, on a rainy Wednesday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Lightning suspended the contest with 6:48 to play, thus making it an official match.
The tie improves Navy's record to 1-2-1 overall, while Loyola moves to 1-1-1 overall. Loyola entered the game ranked fourth in the NSCAA / North Atlantic regional rankings.
The Mids dominated the contest statistically, but the Greyhounds overcame a 2-0 Navy lead with three goals in a 15-minute span to grab a 3-2 advantage with just 15 minutes left. Navy's David Jackson (Jr. / Forest, Va.) scored just 41 seconds before the contest was called because of lightning to knot the score at 3-3.
Navy dominated the opening stanza, outshooting the Greyhounds, 16-3, with six of the shots on goal. Navy also drew five corner kicks to Loyola's two. The Midshipmen took a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute when Zach Davis (So. / Colorado Springs, Colo.) received a perfect corner kick from Wes Powell (Sr. / Jackson, N.J.) on the far post and headed the ball inside the left post for his first career goal and a 1-0 Navy lead.
Meanwhile, the Navy defense was impressive, limiting Loyola without a shot in the game's first 24 minutes and just three shots in the opening half.
"I think, in the first half especially, we showed that we are a very capable team. We had several chances to go up 2-0 or 3-0 bust we just didn't finish," said Navy head coach Dave Brandt. "We had a lot of chances tonight. We just have to find a way to put the ball in the net."
The Midshipmen then went up 2-0 on a 20-yard blast by freshman Joseph Greenspan (Westfield, N.J.) for his first career goal in the 52nd minute. Greenspan dribbled the ball to just outside the box where he sent a hard shot just inside the right post to increase the Navy lead.
"It was nice to see Joe get his first goal. He is definitely capable of putting the ball in the net, so that was good to see," said Brandt.
However, Loyola started to gain momentum, drawing to within one in the 60th minute on a rebound goal by Wade McHugh. The Greyhounds then scored goals off Navy fouls deep in the Mids' defensive end in the 72nd and 75th minute to grab a 3-2 advantage.
"I have always said that two-goal advantages are the most difficult to play with and tonight that was the case," said Brandt. "They made some adjustments and we made some mistakes to allow them to get back into the game. I am proud of our guys in coming back after their three goals though. That showed a lot of heart and pride."
The Mids responded by tying the game on David Jackson's first goal of the season. Powell again sent a corner kick into the box where Jackson got a body on the ball and found the back of the net in the 83rd minute.
The game was then postponed just 41 seconds later when lightning strikes moved within the distnace threshhold and the game was officially suspended at 9:31 pm.
Navy outshot the Greyhounds, 25-13, including 13 shots on goal. Navy had nine corner kicks to Loyola's eight and were whistled for 12 fouls to Loyola's nine.
"We need to mature in a lot of ways and have to be able to close out games like this," said Brandt. "It's just a lot of little things that we need to improve on. I'm proud of our guys for carrying the play and then being able to come back in tough circumstances."
Aaron Dupere (So. / Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) recorded five saves in goal for the Midshipmen.
Navy will travel to a tough UMBC squad on Saturday night. Kick-off is slated for 7:00 pm in Baltimore.
GAME NOTES
Navy is now 1-1-1 against Loyola in three all-time meetings ... the game was played in a driving rainstorm for essentially the entire contest and standing water was on the field when play was suspended ... Navy is now 13-0-1 under Dave Brandt when scoring at least two goals in a game ... on the flipside, Navy is 2-11-1 when teams score two or more goals against Navy ... Wes Powell dished out two assists for the second time in his career, and tied a Glenn Warner Soccer Facility record with the two assists ... Navy has had six different players score Navy's six goals this year ... Zach Davis and Joseph Greenspan each scored their first career goals tonight ... the six goals scored were the most combined goals in a game since Oct. 20, 2006 (4-3 loss to Army) ... it also marked the first time Navy did not win when scoring three goals since that Army contest ... Navy started two seniors, one junior, seven sophomores and one freshman tonight.
# GO NAVY #
