ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The regular season finale between the Navy and Bucknell women's soccer teams on Friday will go a long way in deciding seeding for next week's Patriot League Tournament. Coming into the contest, the Mids (10-5-3, 6-2 PL) are third in the standings, while the Bison (7-9-1, 5-3 PL) are one game back in fourth place. With a win, Navy guarantees itself at least the third seed, with a chance to move into the two-spot and earn a valuable bye into the tournament semifinals, while a Bucknell win moves the Bison into the third seed and drops the Mids to fourth. The action at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium kicks off at 5 p.m. in Lewisburg.

The game will be live streamed by Bucknell on the Patriot League Network with live stats accompanying the broadcast as well.

Patriot League Standings (League Records, Points // Final Game)
*1-Colgate: 7-0-1 (22 pts) // vs. Boston, 10.27 at 12 PM
*2-Boston: 6-0-2 (20 pts) // at Colgate, 10.27 at 12 PM
*3-Navy: 6-2 (18 pts) // at Bucknell, 10.26 at 5 PM
*4-Bucknell: 5-3 (15 pts) // vs. Navy, 10.26 at 5 PM
5-Holy Cross: 3-5 (9 pts) // vs. Lehigh, 10.26 at 7 PM
T6-American: 2-4-2 (8 pts) // at Army, 10.27 at 6 PM
T6-Army: 2-4-2 (8 pts) // vs. American, 10.27 at 6 PM
8-Loyola: 2-5-1 (7 pts) // at Lafayette, 10.27 at 1 PM
9-Lehigh: 2-6 (6 pts) // at Holy Cross, 10.26 at 7 PM
10-Lafayette: 1-7 (3 pts) // vs. Loyola, 10.27 at 1 PM

*-Colgate, Boston, Navy & Bucknell have clinched spots in the 2018 Patriot League Tournament // Lafayette has been eliminated from contention.

Patriot League Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals
#6 at #3, Tuesday, October 30, TBA
#5 at #4, Tuesday, October 30, TBA

Semifinals (#1 Seed will host Semifinals & Championship Game)
First Semifinal, Friday, November 2, TBA
Second Semifinal, Friday, November 2, TBA

Championships (#1 Seed will host)
Championship, Sunday, November 4, TBA

Last Time Out
Navy found itself on the short end of a 1-0 double overtime outcome last Saturday as Colgate earned the walk-off sudden victory in the 109th minute at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The matchup between the then- first and second-place teams in the Patriot League lived up to its billing as the Mids and Raiders were locked in a tight battle throughout.

In the first overtime, both teams had a hard time gaining traction in the offensive attack with Colgate notching the only shot, an off-target header by Dom DeMarco. In the second period of sudden victory action, Fortson came up with a stop in the 107th minute to hold the shutout. Unfortunately for the Mids, the Raiders' second shot on goal found the back of the net as Mara Cosentino beat Fortson with the clock showing 1:23 left.
 
In the game, Colgate outshot Navy, 19-11 with a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal. Navy held a 7-4 margin in corner kicks.

Navy vs. Bucknell
Friday will be the 30th meeting (16-11-2) between the two schools in a series that began in Navy's second year of varsity existence in 1994 ... In that Oct. 22, 1994 matchup, the Mids earned a 2-1 victory over the Bison ... Since that initial contest, the series has gone in multi-year waves numerous times ... From 1995 through 1999, Navy went 4-0-1 before the programs split six games between 2002 and 2007 with Navy winning the first three and Bucknell the later three ... More recently, the Mids won four straight from 2011 to 2014 before going 1-3-1 in their last five matchups ... Bucknell ended Navy's season in 2017 in the Patriot League Championship ... All-time, Navy has outscored Bucknell, 45-31 and is 9-3-1 in games played in Lewisburg.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five matchups dating back to 2015, the Mids are 1-3-1 with Bucknell outscoring Navy, 9-5
Nov. 5, 2017: Bucknell 3 - Navy 2 (Patriot League Finals)
Oct. 28, 2017: Navy 2 - Bucknell 1
Oct. 8, 2016: Bucknell 2 - Navy 1, 1ot
Nov. 6, 2015: Bucknell 3 - Navy 0 (Patriot League Semifinals)
Oct. 10, 2015: Navy 0 - Bucknell 0

2017 Recaps
Navy and Bucknell faced off twice in 2017 as the Mids hosted the Bison on October 28 in Annapolis in the regular season finale for both squads before meeting again a little over a week later in the finals of the Patriot League Tournament. 

Navy rounded off its undefeated Patriot League season with a 2-1 win versus the second-place Bucknell Bison on October 28 at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Held out of the goal scoring column over the first 18 games of 2017, the duo of Cadie Higginson and Mary August picked an opportune time to break those personal droughts as they powered the Mids' offense with single tallies. Coming in as winners of nine of their last 11 games, the Bison were smothered offensively and held to just five total shots, with none in the second half.

For the game, Navy outshot Bucknell, 16-5, with a 7-2 margin in shots on goal and a 4-0 sweep of corner kicks.

In a matchup of the top two seeds, the 2017 Patriot League Women's Soccer Championship Final on November 5 featured break-neck scoring throughout the first half and a furious comeback attempt by the host Navy women's soccer team. When the final whistle blew, the second-seeded Bucknell Bison came out ahead of the top-seeded Navy Midshipmen by a score of 3-2.

Bucknell jumped out to an early 3-0 lead over the opening 21:05 before Clare McAdam cut Navy's deficit to 3-1 at the 27:44 mark of the first half. In the second period, Ash Fairow found the back of the net at 64:05, but unfortunately for the Mids that would signify the end of their comeback as the Bison held on for the 3-2 win.

In defeat, Navy outshot Bucknell, 17-11, though the Bison held a 6-4 margin in shots on goal. Navy ended the game with 11 corner kicks versus four for Bucknell.

Comparing the Teams

(2018 Stats)	Navy	Buck.
Record	10-5-3	7-9-1
Patriot League Rec.	6-2	5-3
Goals/Gm	1.33	0.94
Assists/Gm	1.06	0.76
Shots/Gm	12.7	11.0
Goals Against Avg.	0.97	1.22
GK Saves/Gm	3.0	6.0

Individual Leaders

(2018 Stats)	Navy	Bucknell
Goals	McClaskey, 6	Marek, 4
Assists	McClaskey, 7	4 Players, 2
Points	McClaskey, 19	Marek, 8
Shots	Sottung, 40	Hurst, 31
GK Saves	Fortson, 52	Adu-Attobrah, 92