WORCESTER, Mass. – The Navy women's soccer team dropped its first Patriot League game of the 2019 season on Saturday afternoon at Holy Cross as the host Crusaders used a lockdown defense and a single goal in the 20th minute to come away with a 1-0 victory. In a matchup of two teams that haven't lost a game since late August, the Crusaders (3-2-7, 1-0-4 PL) smothered the Mids (11-2-1, 3-1-1 PL) throughout and held them to just seven total shots in the contest at Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium.
 
"This was a tough game," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "Neither team really had a quality scoring chance throughout the game, but they [Holy Cross] made their one set piece opportunity count when we had a break down. You don't get many chances against a defensive team like Holy Cross and a breakdown or two like that is the difference between a win and a loss. They [Holy Cross] played a strong game in the midfield and we struggled to put many sustained possessions together because of that. We didn't defend well enough today. We'll have to go back to the drawing board, there's a lot of Patriot League play ahead for us."
 
Navy controlled the majority of possession over the first 15 minutes of the game on Saturday before Holy Cross rattled off three shots in a span of 44 seconds. After the first two shots were blocked by Midshipmen defenders, the Crusaders took advantage of a corner kick opportunity at 19:30 when Mariah Brown curled a low looping cross into the box where Kelly Crowley powered a header shot in for a goal.
 
The Crusaders continued building off this newly-found momentum and put two more shots on goal over the final 25 minutes of the action in the first half. Sydney Fortson (Sr., Claremont, Calif.) turned aside both of those shots to keep the game at a 1-0 margin.
 
At the half, Holy Cross was ahead on the scoreboard, as well as in the shots (7-1) and shots on goal (3-0) categories.
 
Navy attempted to flip the script offensively in the start of the second half as the visitors tallied the first three total shots over the initial 12-plus minutes of action.
 
After Crowley tested Fortson again in the 60th minute, the Crusaders registered just one more shot for the remaining 30 minutes. With the hosts' offense nullified, it was up to the visiting Mids to try and scratch out the game-tying tally. In the final 10 minutes of regulation, Navy had three potentially dangerous scoring opportunities that were thwarted. Carolyn Mang (So., Forest Hill, Md.) got the first look as she won a 50-50 ball in the 80th minute and dribbled into the box, but was bodied off the ball just prior to getting a shot off. Less than four minutes later, Cadie Higginson (Sr., New Orleans, La.) received a ball over the top and darted into the box. With a bit of space she laid a cross along the six-yard box that skipped away late from a charging Kristina Dzhandzhapanyan (Jr., Diamond Bar, Calif.). The Mids' last significant look at goal was a Baseley McClaskey (Sr., Grand Junction, Colo.) free kick in the 86th minute from 20 yards out that curled low around the Holy Cross wall. Unfortunately for Navy's comeback attempt, Holy Cross' goalie Sophia Lettieri met McClaskey's shot at the goal line and fell on the ball to hold onto the shutout.
 
For the game, Holy Cross outshot Navy, 9-7 with a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal. Both teams finished the contest with five corner kicks.
 
In the setback, Fortson recorded three saves.
 
Navy will have a quick turnaround as the team will be back in action on Monday afternoon at Delaware State. Kickoff between the Mids and Hornets is set for 4 p.m. at Alumni Stadium.