LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Navy men's soccer team finished off its 2018 campaign on Saturday afternoon with a 4-1 victory on the road against Bucknell. The victory moved the Midshipmen's winning streak to four to end the season as they capped off the year with a record of 5-11-1 overall and a 4-5 mark in the Patriot League.
 
Nicko West (So., Mansfield, Texas) finished with two goals and an assist for Navy, while Toni Adewole (So., Clarksburg, Md.) and Joe Alex (Fr., Lockport, N.Y.) finished with a goal and an assist each to pace the Midshipmen past the Bison (6-8-3, 3-5-1 Patriot League).
 
"It was a transition game," head coach Tim O'Donohue said. "Once we scored they needed to win so we hit them in the counter-attack. I am really proud of this proud of this group and how they finished the season."
 
For the second-straight match, the Midshipmen struck in the first 20 minutes of play to grab an early advantage. Adewole scored his first goal of the season after his strike from the top of the 18-yard box made Ryan Ott hesitate in goal and Adewole's shot found the back of the net to give Navy a 1-0 edge in the 20th minute. Ernando Manrique (So., Buford, Ga.) tallied his first career point on the goal after earning the assist on the first score of the match.
 
Prior to the goal, the Midshipmen defense was able to fight off a few set pieces from the Bison and Tyler Fahning (Fr., Victoria, Minn.) came up with a big save in the first 20 minutes as he stopped a laser from Bernie Wright to keep Bucknell off the board.
 
In the first 45 minutes, the Bison held a narrow 6-3 edge in total shots, but Navy had two of its three shots end up on goal, while Bucknell had the one shot that was stopped by Fahning reach target in the first half.
 
Right out of the gate in the second half, the Bison tried to the score early with three corner kicks and two shots in the first 10 minutes, but the Midshipmen defense stood up to the task with a blocked shot and another save by Fahning to keep Navy ahead by a goal.
 
After withstanding the offensive attack from Bucknell, the Midshipmen countered and took a 2-0 lead in the 56th minute. Alex sent a pass up toward the Bison backline, where West split past two defenders and found himself with a one-on-one chance with the Bucknell goalkeeper. With Ott diving toward the left goal post, West finessed a shot toward the right post and into the back of the net to double the Navy lead in the second half.
 
The Midshipmen continued to find the gaps in the Bucknell backline and took a 3-0 lead over the Bison in the 64th minute. Adewole was racing down the left wing and played a pass toward the end line for West. West found an unmarked Alex in the center of the penalty and Alex scored his first collegiate goal to put Navy on top, 3-0. 
 
Bucknell finally broke through in the 74th minute with a goal from Stefan Gollisz. The goal from the Bison ended Navy's shutout streak at 289:50. Prior to the goal from Gollisz, the Midshipmen's last goal allowed came early in the second half against Boston University two weeks ago. 
 
With their backs against the wall and a shot at the Patriot League Tournament on the line, the Bison tried to claw back into the match, but the Navy defense kept them at ease. The Midshipmen continued to direct Bucknell's chances away from goal to maintain a two-goal advantage.
 
In the 81st minute, West scored his second goal of the afternoon to regain the three-goal lead for Navy with Ethan Singer (Jr., Clearwater, Fla.) earning the assist on the goal.
 
Michael Hurley (Sr., Arlington, Va.) came into play the final five minutes as he helped seal the 4-1 victory for Navy as he closed out his collegiate career with the Midshipmen.
 
Bucknell had a 23-10 advantage in shots, but it only had six shots on goal. Navy had half of its shot reach target in the victory. Navy's defense combined to block nine shot attempts from the Bison and also recorded a save, while Fahning finished the day with four saves.
 
Despite the victory on Saturday afternoon, Navy was eliminated from postseason contention on Friday night after Army rallied to beat American at home, 2-1. The Midshipmen eliminated Bucknell from the Patriot League Tournament and both American and Army earned the final two spots in the league tournament.
 
Navy, American and Army were all tied for fifth in the league standings to end the season with 12 points. However, the Midshipmen were moved down to seventh – and out the playoff picture as the top six teams in the league move onto the Patriot League Tournament – following the tiebreakers as Navy lost to both American and Army this season.
 
"We lose an integral piece to our team in captain Michael Hurley, but we return everyone else next season. We are excited to get back to work in the spring and continue to grow this group," O'Donohue said with the conclusion of the season.
 
Navy finishes the 2018 season with an overall record of 5-11-1 and 4-5 in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen finished the year strong as they ended with four-straight victories.