LEWISBURG, Pa. – With playoff seeding on the line Friday in Lewisburg, the Navy women's soccer team left few questions unanswered as the Mids (11-5-3, 7-2 PL) cruised to a 3-0 win over Bucknell (7-10-1, 5-4 PL) to clinch at least the third seed in next week's Patriot League Tournament with the potential to earn the second seed and a bye into the tournament semifinals. Junior defender Baseley McClaskey (Jr., Grand Junction, Colo.) left her mark on the contest as she scored the first goal of the game and assisted on the next two markers.

Navy's second goal was recorded by Cadie Higginson (Jr., New Orleans, La.), while Kristina Dzhandzhapanyan (So., Diamond Bar, Calif.) beat Bucknell's goalkeeper late in the game to polish off the 3-0 shutout. Junior Sydney Fortson (Claremont, Calif.) notched her eighth clean sheet of the 2018 season with two saves in goal for the Mids.

"I'm really proud of this team," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "Overall, week-to-week and game-to-game we continue to improve. We're not the same team we were in August, let alone one week ago. We continue to find ways to become a better and more dangerous team. We're not nearly done improving. We need to take this momentum into the postseason; hitting your peak is important at this time of the year.

"We got a lot of really good performances from across our roster tonight. Our defense was solid and our offense created quality scoring opportunities; making three of them count. Bucknell is a strong team and the number four seed in the league so this is a great result heading into next week's tournament."

Navy came out of the gates fast on Friday at Emmitt Stadium as the Mids recorded their first shot on goal just 100 seconds into the contest. Navy's second shot on goal occurred less than five minutes later and saw the Mids go up 1-0. Receiving the ball on the left wing, McClaskey's initial shot was blocked, but the Mids' junior defender corralled the loose ball and immediately shot a looping ball into the upper-90 on the far side of the goal well away from the Bison goalkeeper, Theresa Adu-Attobrah at 6:34.

Navy nearly made it 2-0 in the 14th minute when Mary August (Sr., Arnold, Md.) blitzed through the middle of the field darting towards goal and lofting a high cross to the back post and Dzhandzhapanyan, who powered a header shot on goal and into the hands of a waiting Adu-Attobrah.

Bucknell's first dangerous scoring chance came in the 19th minute when Maddie Dano put a high-arching corner kick into the 6-yard box that required a leaping punch by Fortson to deflect the ball away. Fortson's command of the box was showcased again on the Bison's second corner kick 13 minutes later when she snatched the crossing ball just in front of the oncoming rush of Bucknell attackers. 

McClaskey left her mark in the scoring column a second time as in the 36th minute as she lobbed a high corner kick into the back of the 6-yard box where Higginson found the ball as a trailing attacker and headed the ball low on one hop across the goal line.

Coming out of the halftime intermission with the score 2-0 in favor of Navy, Bucknell recorded its first high percentage look on goal in the second half as Alana Carlucci gained control of the loose ball off of a corner kick and rifled a shot towards goal before Alex Jackson (Jr., Centennial, Colo.) stepped in and redirected the shot off frame in the 52nd minute.

Fortson turned aside the Bison's first shot on goal in the 62nd minute as she handled Jenna Marek's attempt without issue.

Navy clinched the 3-0 victory when McClaskey served up a quality corner kick into the box to her defensive mate Jackson, who volleyed the ball towards the right side of the net and the uncovered Dzhandzhapanyan, who neatly placed the ball right inside the near post at 81:28.

A foul called just outside the box in the 86th minute gave the Bison their final quality look on goal as Dano lined up her free kick, but pushed her shot high and wide off target.

For the game, Navy outshot Bucknell 10-8 with a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal. The host Bison recorded a slim 5-4 edge in corner kicks.

Fortson made two saves for the Mids in her eighth shutout of 2018 and 17th of her career. The California native dropped her season goals against average to 0.85 with her second shutout over the past three games.

That second assist of the game for McClaskey was her ninth of the season, tying her career-high from 2017. During the 2018 regular season, the Colorado native tallied seven goals and nine assists as a member of Navy's stout defensive backfield that allowed just 18 goals in 19 contests.

"To finish with 21 points in the regular season is an outstanding result," exclaimed Gabarra. "Going 7-2 in the Patriot League is something we take great pride in. Whether it's on Tuesday as a three seed or Friday as a two seed, we'll be ready for the tournament."

Navy's next action is currently up in the air as the Mids temporarily moved into second place in the Patriot League standings with 21 league points. Colgate and Boston, who have attained 22 and 20 points, respectively play on Saturday at noon in Hamilton, N.Y. to help unscramble the top of the standings. A win or tie by the Raiders would clinch the regular season title and the number one seed in the Patriot League Tournament, while a Terriers win would give them the top seed. A Terrier draw would give them the number two seed via a tiebreaker with Mids. Navy will be rooting for a Boston loss that would drop the Terriers into third and reward the Mids with the two-seed and a bye into the Patriot League Semifinals.

Should Navy end up as the number three seed, the Mids would host a Patriot League Quarterfinal match on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against the number six seed, that has yet to be determined.

Check in with NavySports.com and/or Navy's social media outlets on Saturday afternoon following the conclusion of the Colgate-Boston game to find out the Mids' up-to-date postseason schedule.
 

Patriot League Standings (League Records, Points // Final Game)
*1-Colgate: 7-0-1 (22 pts) // vs. Boston, 10.27 at 12 PM
*2-Navy: 7-2 (21 pts) // Either #2 or #3 Seed
*3-Boston: 6-0-2 (20 pts) // at Colgate, 10.27 at 12 PM (hold tie-breaker over Navy)
*4-Bucknell: 5-3 (15 pts) // Locked into #4 Seed
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