WORCESTER, Mass. – The Navy men's soccer team forced overtime against Holy Cross, but the Midshipmen (1-6-1, 0-1-0 Patriot League) dropped a 2-1 decision to the Crusaders (1-3-3, 1-0-0 PL) on the road to start Patriot League play.
 
Phillip Gustafson (So., Littleton, Colo.) scored Navy's lone goal of the match, while Ian Bramblett (So., Easley, S.C.) made seven saves to set a new career best. However, Holy Cross scored in the 98th minute to steal the game, 2-1.
 
"We fought back today to force overtime, which was good to see," head coach Tim O'Donohue said after the match. "We generated a lot of excellent opportunities to score. It was a very tough loss but we have a lot of Patriot League matches ahead of us and now we need to get ready for Loyola."
 
Navy's offensive attack started strong with an early chance from the top of the 18-yard box from Jacob Williams (Fr., Millersville, Md.), but his left-footed attempt went wide of the far post. Wyatt Millard (So., Columbia, S.C.) forced Henry Stutz into his first save of the match in the 12th minute of action.
 
Bayne Bentley (Fr., Austin, Texas) continued the offensive pressure for the Midshipmen with a shot from the right wing that scooted past the far post and out of play. Navy recorded the first four shots of the match before Holy Cross recorded its first shot in the 26th minute. 
 
The Crusaders found their offensive legs midway through the first half with Simon Becher generating a hard shot the whistled just over the crossbar. 
 
Holy Cross broke the scoreless affair in the 29th minute off of a free kick. The Crusaders had the first set piece of the day and after the free kick fell in front of Bramblett the ball rattled around the six-yard box before R.J. Place collected the loose ball and scored to make it 1-0 in favor of Holy Cross.
 
With 10 minutes left in the opening half, Becher looked to double the Crusader lead, but Bramblett came off his line to make the save and keep the Navy deficit at one. Millard had another goal scoring opportunity, but the Holy Cross backline came up with the block to extinguish the threat.
 
Late in the first half, the Midshipmen had a free kick from 20 yards out, but Williams pushed his shot from the free kick over the crossbar. Mason Brummett had one last effort toward goal in the final seconds of the half and Bramblett pushed the shot attempt over the cross to make the save.
 
The Crusaders took a 1-0 lead into the half, while also holding a 7-6 edge in shots and a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal.
 
Navy used its pressure defense to tie the match in the 61st minute. Holy Cross looked to clear the ball from its own penalty area, but the clearance attempt hit Gustafson and ricocheted into the back of the Crusader net to make it a 1-1 contest.
 
The goal from Gustafson snapped a scoreless stretch of 185:19 for the Mids, dating back to their match at home against Howard on September 5.
 
Following the game-tying goal, the game opened up once again for both teams. In the flow of play, Nicko West (So., Mansfield, Texas) tried to give Navy its first lead of the day in the 74th minute but his high, hard shot just missed the upper 90 to the far side.
 
As the game turned into the 81st minute, Bramblett made a diving save – his seventh of the day – and then Brummett hit the post as the match stayed all square, 1-1, at the end of regulation.
 
Holy Cross used a strong counter-attack off of a throw-in to score the game-winning goal in the 98th minute. Becher laid a ball off to Bobby Barsic at the top of the 18-yard box and Barsic beat Bramblett to the far post to seal the 2-1 overtime win for Holy Cross.
 
Navy was outshot in the match 17-13 and the Crusaders had a 9-4 edge in shots on target. Bramblett finished with a career-best seven saves for the Midshipmen.
 
Navy returns home on Saturday against Loyola at 7 p.m. from the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.