March 14, 2012

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy Athletics has had many special moments over the past year and now it's time for Navy fans to fill out their brackets for NAVY MARCH MADNESS. Check out the brackets here and then go to the official Navy Athletics Facebook page to vote for your favorite moments from the past 365 days. A new match-up will be posted every weekday morning and the event that receives the most votes will "survive and advance" -- the motto of March. The finals will be held on April 3-4 so vote early and vote often to help your favorite event from the past year cut down the nets in NAVY MARCH MADNESS.

Today's Matchup: Men's Soccer in PL Tourney vs. Decade of Dominance
(VOTE HERE!) -- (voting ends at 9:00 AM on March 24)

Navy Men's Soccer Reaches Patriot League Tournament For First Time in 10 Years
• With its backs against the wall, the Navy men's soccer team played its best soccer of the season late in the year and reached the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2001. Boasting one of the youngest teams in the country, the squad exceeded its preseason expectations and went 3-0-2 down the stretch to reach the postseason for the first time in 10 years.

A Decade of Dominance: Navy Football Beats Army For 10th Straight Season
• With its 27-21 win over Army, the Navy football team won its 10th straight game against Army, a stretch unseen in the history of America's greatest rivalry. During the 10-year run, Navy has outscored the Black Knights, 349 (34.9 per game) to 112 (11.2 per game) and just one of the contests has been decided by single-digits. Ken Niumatalolo became just the second coach in school history to start his career 4-0 against Army (Paul Johnson 6-0).

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Complete Entry List
Navy Football Announces Move to Big East
• The Naval Academy announced on Jan. 24, 2012 that it has accepted a formal invitation from the BIG EAST to become a football-only member of the conference starting with the 2015 season. The Naval Academy and the BIG EAST have agreed to a three-year phase-in period during which a scheduling partnership will be created and leading to a full schedule of eight games in 2015.

Navy Women's Tennis Advancing to PL Finals in Second Varsity Season
• The Navy women's tennis team, in just its second varsity season, surprised many and advanced to the finals of the Patriot League Tournament. The Midshipmen won a school-record 22 matches while boasting a youthful roster, showed that the teams will be one of the top programs in the Patriot League year-in and year-out. The Midshipmen reached the finals with a marathon 4-2 win over Bucknell in the semifinals -- a match that took over four hours to complete.

Navy Swimmers Qualify For Olympic Trials
• In the span of just a few hours on a memorable and emotional day in Lejeune Hall, 11 members of the Navy swimming program qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Their efforts brought the total number of current or former Navy swimmers who have qualified for the trials to 15.

Navy Women's Soccer With a Memorable Rally to Stun Army
• The Navy women's soccer overcame a 2-0 halftime deficit to Army in the annual Star Game by outscoring its archrival, 3-0, in the second half to reclaim the N-Star in front of a crowd of 1,433 fans at Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Freshman Morgan Dankanich scored the game-winning goal in the 88th minute to cap off the improbable comeback.

Navy Coaches Reach Milestone Victories
• Several Navy coaches reached impressive milestones throughout the year. Head WLAX coach Cindy Timchal became the first collegiate lacrosse coach (men's or women's) to win 400 games. Navy WBB coach Stefanie Pemper needed only 399 games to reach 300 career victories as a women's basketball head coach. She attained her 300th win with Navy's Feb. 4 victory over Lafayette. Water Polo coach Mike Schofield became the school's all-time winningest coach in any sport and surpassed 600 wins at Navy on Nov. 6 against Navy's biggest rival, Princeton. And Navy MTEN coach John Officer posted the 400th win of his Navy career during the 2011 spring season. He is the winningest coach in school history.

Navy Ranked Fourth Nationally in Academic Progress Rate (APR)
• All 24 of Navy's NCAA sponsored varsity sports rank above the national average in the Academic Progress report released by the NCAA, including five teams with perfect scores. Navy graduated 100 percent of its student-athletes in 10 of the 20 NCAA sports reported on and averaged an overall rate of 96 percent for student-athletes in all sports -- the fourth-highest mark nationally among FBS schools.

Navy's Dominance of Army
• Navy has dominated its chief service-academy rival, Army, on the fields of competition this year. As of March 14, Navy owns a 16-6 (.727) record against the Black Knights in all competitions and has already wrapped up the overall Star series with a 14-3 (.824) mark. From the 1996-97 season, Navy is 305-177-6 (.637) against Army in all events and 229-111-6 (.671) in Star Games.

Navy Cross Country Wins Both Men's and Women's League Titles
• The Navy men's cross country team won its fourth consecutive Patriot League title in the fall of 2011, running past second-place American for the title. Led by Jess Palacio's individual title, the women's team followed suit, winning its third PL title since 2007. Amazingly, its the second time since 2008 that both teams have won the Patriot League Championship on the same day.

Navy Swimming Dominates to Win Patriot League Titles
• The swimming and diving programs dominated the Patriot League Championship like no other program in the history of the league. The two Navy squads combined to win 33 of the 40 event contested over the three-day meet in Annapolis to win the team titles by a combined 632 points.

Navy Baseball Wins Patriot League Title; Advances to NCAAs
• The Navy baseball team won the 2011 Patriot League tournament title by defeating Army, 5-3, in the decisive game of the three-game series. Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Mids scored three runs to take the lead for good as they won their sixth league championship. The win gave Navy an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Navy Sprint Football Wins Its 35th National Title
• The Navy sprint football team captured its 35th Collegiate Sprint Football League title this past fall as it defeated Army, 28-6, in the final game of the season. The win on Army's home field not only gave the Mids the Star, but it capped their perfect 7-0 record as they posted the 27th undefeated season in school history.

Navy Women's Basketball Wins Patriot League Title; Advances to NCAAs
• After having not attained a Patriot League title in its first 19 years as a member of the league, the women's basketball team won its second league crown in as many years. The No. 3 Mids first posted a quarterfinal round win over Colgate on The Yard before knocking off second-seeded Lehigh on the road. Home for the title tilt, the Mids rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Holy Cross, 57-48, and cut down the Alumni Hall nets once again.

Navy Wrestling Defeats Army For 12th Straight Season
• The Navy wrestling team continued its mastery of Army with its 12th straight win in the series in a 27-9 win over the Black Knights in front of over 3,000 fans at Alumni Hall. The win improved Navy's record all-time against the Black Knights to 46-5-5 and Navy is an amazing 44-1-5 in the last 50 matches with Army.

Navy Women's Lacrosse With Stunning Rally to Win Patriot League Title
• The Navy women's lacrosse team rallied from a five-goal second half deficit to defeat Colgate in the 2011 Patriot League women's lacrosse championship game. Navy closed the game on a 5-0 run to win its second Patriot League title in two years and advance to a second straight NCAA Tournament in just its fourth year as a varsity program.

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QUARTERFINAL MATCHUPS WILL TAKE PLACE ON MARCH 26-30
SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS WILL TAKE PLACE ON MARCH 30-APRIL 3
FINALS WILL BE HELD APRIL 3-4.

# GO NAVY #