Aug. 20, 2015 ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's soccer team kicks off 2015 at home against UMBC on Friday (7 PM) at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The match will be streamed live and for free on PatriotLeague.TV with Joe Miller on the call.
Following Friday's contest, Navy will travel to the University of Maryland on Sunday for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Ludwig Field. The Mids and Terps match will be streamed on BTN2GO.com for $9.95.
Key Notes vs. UMBC:
• UMBC was picked to finish third in the America East Conference behind New Hampshire and Hartford. The Retrievers fell to eventual tournament champion UNH, 1-1 (6-5 SHO), in the semifinals last season.
• Navy is 14-3-2 lifetime against the America East Conference. The Mids leads 3-0 versus Albany, 2-0-1 against Binghamton, 1-0 versus Stony Brook, 7-3-1 against UMBC and 1-0 versus Vermont.
• This is the second consecutive season that both programs begin the season against one another. UMBC upended Navy, 1-0, last season in Baltimore. Redshirt junior forward Alexa Quaranta tallied the game-winning goal in the 30th minute.
• Despite losing two-time America East Midfield Player of the Year Jessy Brown, UMBC returns three of its five top goal scorers. Sophomores Lisa Nanov and Destinee Morris combined for 18 points on five goals and five assists last season.
WE MEET AGAIN
• Friday's match against UMBC will be the second-straight season with both teams opening the season against one another.
• Outside of Patriot League opponents, Navy will face off against UMBC for the 12th time, which will tie for the most matches against a nonconference opponent in program history. The only other nonconference opponent to play Navy 12 times is Mount St. Mary's.
• The Retrievers got the best of the Midshipmen last season, earning a 1-0 victory to open the season in Baltimore, Maryland. Senior forward Alexa Quaranta scored the game-winning goal in the 30th minute. Senior goalkeeper Jen Nance recorded her first of nine shutouts, making four saves.
• UMBC's win over Navy in the 2014 season opener snapped the Mids' unbeaten streak of eight games against the Retrievers.
• Navy has outscored UMBC, 21-9, in the previous 11 meetings combined. The Mids have recorded six shutouts.
Key Notes vs. Maryland:
• In the 2015 BIG TEN preseason poll, Maryland was selected to finish seventh in the 14-team conference. The Terrapins finished the season ninth in the conference with a 3-5-5 mark and a 5-7-6 overall record.
• Navy is 1-13-2 all-time against the BIG TEN with its lone win coming against Penn State on Oct. 26, 2006. Besides Penn St. (1-3) and Maryland (0-8-1), the Mids have also faced Wisconsin (0-1), Ohio State (0-1) and Iowa (0-0-1).
• Senior goalkeeper Rachel Beanlands returns as one of the top Terrapins. Beanlands had her best season at Maryland, tallying career highs in goals-against average (0.86), save percentage (.797) and shutouts (6).
HOME SWEET HOME
• The Glenn Warner Soccer Facility has created quite the home field advantage for the Navy soccer program with an all-time record of 170-43-18 (.746) in its 22 years of existence.
• Navy enters Friday's match with a seven-game winning streak at home and unbeaten in the last 10 (8-0-2).
• The Mids record for consecutive home wins in a season is 14, which was set in the 2006 season. Over multiple seasons, Navy has strung together 15-straight home wins from 1997 to 1998.
PATRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
• The Navy women's soccer team was picked to place third in the Patriot League this coming season.
• Navy grabbed two first-place votes and 135 points for third place in the preseason poll. Two-time defending Patriot League Tournament Champion Boston University garnered 11 first-place votes and 155 points for first place, while last season's regular-season champion Colgate tallied seven first-place votes and 147 points for second. Army West Point finished with 103 points, Bucknell recorded 92 points and Loyola (Md.) tallied 76 to round out the top six. Lehigh (70), Holy Cross (64), Lafayette (35) and American (23) completed the field of 10.
• Senior defender Lexi Ricketts (The Woodlands, Texas) and sophomore midfielder Meghan Hegarty (Richmond, Va.) were selected to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team.
• Hegarty and Ricketts, both of whom were third team All-League selections last season, were recognized on the preseason All-League squad. Hegarty recorded the highest offensive production in the midfield for Navy with eight points on three goals and two assists last season. Ricketts had her best offensive season as a Mid, tallying seven points on three goals and one assist as a defender.
AUGUST PLAY
• Navy will look to capitalize in the month of August with three home matches against UMBC, VMI and UConn and will take to the road against in-state rival Maryland.
• The Mids own a 27-12-4 (.674) all-time record and is unbeaten in eight of their last 12 matches.
• Navy has outscored its opponent 26-15 in the last 12 contests.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
• Senior defender Lexi Ricketts will be Navy's 23rd captain in program history. She is the eighth defender at Navy to captain a Mids squad.
• Other defenders in Navy history to be honored as the team captain were Kelsey Learned ('13), Jessica Grupp ('11), Lindsay Adlam ('06), Nicole Aunapu ('99), Kate Standifer ('96) and Trish Buchinger ('95).
