ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Faced with a litany of obstacles on Wednesday night, the Navy women's soccer team fought through everything thrown in its direction and came away with a dramatic 3-2 golden goal overtime victory over American University at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Going down 2-0 within the first 28 minutes of play and abandoning the action for an hour and 39 minutes due to a lightning delay, the Mids (6-3-3, 3-0 PL) flipped the script and brought out a renewed energy that culminated in the exciting run of three unanswered goals to defeat the Eagles (5-3-3, 0-2-1 PL). Eleanor Pratt (Sr., New Orleans, La.) scored the first two goals for Navy before freshman Victoria Tran (Clarksville, Md.) netted the game-winning walk-off goal in the 99^th minute.
 
"Wow, what a game," exclaimed head coach Carin Gabarra. "I loved the fight and change in mentality that we had coming out after the lightning delay, it was really fantastic! I am disappointed in our start though, we cannot continue to begin games like that and expect positive results.
 
"Coming out after the break, we tweaked the lineup a bit and really got some strong efforts. I'm proud of the players that stepped up. I always tell them when you have your moment, take it. Eleanor Pratt definitely took that moment; Victoria Tran definitely took that moment; Carolyn Mang took that moment. We had some players really step up and give us some big minutes tonight in some tough situations. We want our players to come in and change the game. I'm proud of the fight, I'm proud of the heart and proud of coming back from two goals down and defeating a really good American team." 
 
The visitors from Washington, D.C. controlled the majority of play over the opening 28 minutes of action on Wednesday night, as they recorded the first three shots of the game. The Eagles' second shot of that run came from Yari Bradfield, who flicked a header shot to the back of the net at 8:17. 
 
Down early 1-0, Navy tried to even the score and nearly did in the 18^th minute when Baseley McClaskey (Jr., Grand Junction, Colo.) and Karli Sottung (Sr., Westfield, N.J.) had back-to-back shot attempts blocked by American defenders. A third quality look by a Midshipmen came in the 26^th minute when the newly-inserted Emily Keast (So., Springfield, Va.) got a clean look on goal only to have the Eagles' last defender, Olivia Mahony deflect the sure goal away at the last moment for a team save.
 
Bradfield found herself back in the scoring column at 27:47 when she corralled her own blocked shot and turned it into a well-struck shot into the upper-90.
 
American only got to celebrate its two-goal lead for 80 seconds before a strike of lightning came within the allowable radius for play and the teams were immediately ushered off the field to safety.

Down 2-0, Navy used the lengthy 1:39 delay to regroup and come up with a plan to fight its way back into the game. Finally back to action at 9:09 p.m., the Mids immediately made a pair of personnel moves and changed some of their tactical alignment. Pratt and Tori Mitchell (Fr., Wesley Chapel, Fla.) entered the game and made their presence known. Less than two minutes into her run of action, Mitchell laid off a pass to Sottung in space, where the Mids' captain ripped a shot on goal. American's goalkeeper Ryleigh Brown was up to the task and the game remained a two-goal margin. 
 
Pratt left her mark on the game at 40:29 when she calmly converted a penalty kick for Navy after McClaskey was fouled seconds earlier dribbling through the box. 
 
Trailing only 2-1 now, Navy took this momentum into the locker room for an abbreviated halftime intermission.
 
Coming out after break, the Mids withstood an early burst by the Eagles' offense that saw the visitors register three shots and a corner kick within the first 10 minutes of play. Coming out of that span of play unscathed, it was Navy's turn to flip the pressure to its attacking third. Between 57:21 and 60:31, the Mids took four shots, two on goal, and earned a corner kick. Brown's second save for American during this time was highlight worthy as she leapt towards the crossbar to push Sottung's shot off frame.
 
Defensively, Sydney Fortson (Jr., Claremont, Calif.) left her mark in Navy's comeback push as she left her line in the 70^th minute to attack American's Toni Williams, who was streaking in unabated. Dribbling in, Williams left the door open for Fortson's defense with one dribble too many as Fortson slid in to drive the ball away.
 
With the time counting down under a minute and the Mids' hopes for a game-tying goal waning by the second, Pratt came through once again for Navy as she collected a weak clearing attempt from American and hammered home a one-timer shot on goal low and past Brown to the left corner. Pratt's second goal of the game came at 89:10.
 
Playing their second overtime game in nine days against a school from D.C., Navy was unaffected by the new sudden victory dynamic of the game. Looking for her fourth game-winning goal of the year, McClaskey stepped to her free kick opportunity at 91:38 and scorched a ball around the Eagles' wall and over Brown only to see it ring off the underside of the crossbar and drop in front of the goal line.
 
After Fortson made her third save of the night to keep it a 2-2 game, the stage was set for some underclassmen magic in the 99^th minute. Working its offense up the right wing with Kristina Dzhandzhapanyan (So., Diamond Bar, Calif.), Navy soon looked to turn the action towards the middle of the field and set up a more high percentage shot. After some quick back-and-forth between the teams at the top of the 18-yard box, sophomore Denisse Ramirez (Union City, Calif.) attained the ball and quickly played a lateral pass to Tran, who dribbled for space past an American defender and connected for a high arching shot over the American defense and most importantly the Eagles' goalie for the dramatic golden goal victory at 98:31.
 
The golden goal was the 26^th in Navy's program history and second in nine days as McClaskey found the back of the net in the Mids' 3-2 win at Howard on Sept. 17.
 
For the game, Navy outshot American, 19-16 with a 8-5 advantage in shots on goal. Both teams recorded two corner kicks.
 
Offering the Mids a different look after the early deficit, Tran (80 minutes), Ramirez (74), Pratt (69), Mitchell (59) and Carolyn Mang (Fr., Forest Hill, Md. – 42) all provided important minutes in Navy's comeback.
 
Not to be understated in the Mids' cause on Wednesday were the complete 99-minute efforts of Fortson, McClaskey, Alex Jackson (Jr., Centennial, Colo.), Mary August (Sr., Arnold, Md.) and Cadie Higginson (Jr., New Orleans, La.) in water-logged conditions.
 
"When we changed our shape after the delay, Mary August and Alex Jackson contained a very good striker in [Yari] Bradfield, who is very strong and very good on the ball," said Gabarra. "They shut her down in the second half in sloppy conditions. That's not an easy thing for center backs to do."
 
Navy will be back in Patriot League action on Saturday evening on the road at Lehigh. Kickoff between the Mids and Mountain Hawks is set for 6 p.m. in Bethlehem, Pa.