ANNAPOLIS, Md. - With four games left in the regular season for the Patriot League, playoff positioning will be at the forefront of Saturday morning's women's soccer matchup between the Navy Midshipmen and Bucknell Bison. The two squads currently sit atop the league standings with the Mids (12-2-1, 3-1-1 PL) in first place with 10 points and the Bison (5-9-0, 3-2-0 PL) in second with 9 points. With the top-six teams qualifying for the Patriot League Tournament in November, positions one through eight are separated by just four points going into the weekend. The action between Navy and Bucknell is scheduled for an 11:00 a.m. kickoff at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility on Saturday. Live stats will be provided for the contest.

Last Time Out
Playing its second game in three days, Navy got back to its winning ways on the road Monday with a 1-0 victory over Delaware State. Looking to put Saturday's 1-0 Patriot League defeat to Holy Cross behind them, the Mids (12-2-1) scored early on the strength of a Gabby Gordon goal in the 23rd minute and never looked back as their defense led by junior goalkeeper Molly Swiger kept the Hornets (0-15) off the scoreboard for the clean sheet victory.

The scales tip in Navy's favor in the first half courtesy of the duo of Gordon and Sadie McCaleb. With Navy in possession of the ball on a throw-in, McCaleb launched a deep throw to the top of the 18-yard box where Gordon volleyed the ball out of the air for a high looping shot on target passed the outstretched arms of Delaware State's goalkeeper, Fabrea McCray for the game's first goal at 22:41. That scoring transaction gave both McCaleb and Gordon their first points of the 2019 season.

Swiger made sure Navy's 1-0 lead held up to earn her team the shutout victory when she made a save on Mary O'Conner's shot on goal in the 70th. That was the Hornet's only shot on goal of the game.
 
In the 1-0 victory, Navy outshot Delaware State, 13-4 in total shots and 6-1 in shots on goal. The Mids also led the Hornets in corners by a 7-2 margin. The shutout was the ninth of the 2019 for Navy and the second individual clean sheet for Swiger this campaign.

Navy vs. Bucknell
Saturday will be the 31st meeting (17-11-2) between the two schools in a series that began in Navy's second year of varsity existence in 1994 ... In that Oct. 22, 1994 matchup, the Mids earned a 2-1 victory over the Bison ... Since that initial contest, the series has gone in multi-year waves numerous times ... From 1995 through 1999, Navy went 4-0-1 before the programs split six games between 2002 and 2007 with Navy winning the first three and Bucknell the later three ... More recently, the Mids won four straight from 2011 to 2014 before going 2-3-0 in their last five matchups ... All-time, Navy has outscored Bucknell, 48-31 and is 7-7-1 in games played in Annapolis.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five matchups dating back to 2015, the Mids are 2-3 with Bucknell outscoring Navy, 9-8
Oct. 26, 2018 (A): Navy 3 - Bucknell 0
Nov. 5, 2017 (H): Bucknell 3 - Navy 2 (Patriot League Finals)
Oct. 28, 2017 (H): Navy 2 - Bucknell 1
Oct. 8, 2016 (H): Bucknell 2 - Navy 1, 1ot
Nov. 6, 2015 (N): Bucknell 3 - Navy 0 (Patriot League Semifinals)

2018 Recap
With playoff seeding on the line last Oct. 26 in Lewisburg, Pa., Navy left few questions unanswered as the Mids cruised to a 3-0 win over Bucknell to clinch at least the third seed in the Patriot League Tournament. Baseley McClaskey 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, while Kristina Dzhandzhapanyan beat Bucknell's goalkeeper late in the game to polish off the 3-0 shutout. Sydney Fortson notched her eighth clean sheet of the 2018 season with two saves in goal for the Mids.

Navy came out of the gates fast 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. 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.

Navy clinched the 3-0 victory when McClaskey served up a quality corner kick into the box to her defensive mate Alex 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.

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.

Comparing the Teams

(2019 Stats)	Navy	Bucknell
Record	12-2-1 / 3-1-1 PL	5-9 / 3-2 PL
Goals/Gm	1.47	0.93
Assists/Gm	1.47	0.79
Shots/Gm	14.1	10.2
Goals Against Avg.	0.46	1.40
GK Saves/Gm	2.2	5.5

Individual Leaders

(2019 Stats)	Navy	Bucknell
Goals	Mang/McClaskey, 3	Bair, 3
Assists	McClaskey, 4	11 players, 1
Points	McClaskey, 10	Bair, 6
Shots	McClaskey, 35	Marek, 19
GK Saves	Fortson, 26	Donnelly, 70

Parking / Shuttle / Ticket Information
Fans are reminded that the general public does not have access to drive their vehicles on to the U.S. Naval Academy. Due to the Navy-Air Force football game on Saturday afternoon, fans are asked to park at the former NSA Annapolis Commissary off of Kinkaid Road (across for the Navy Lodge at 347 Kinkaid Rd., Annapolis, 21402) and take a shuttle that will run every 10 minutes starting one hour prior to the game (10:00 AM) and will continue running until one hour after the game is completed (approx. 2:00 PM). Fans 18 and over need a government-issued photo ID. Dogs are not permitted inside the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.

Free Admission
All soccer contests at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility will be free of charge.