ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's soccer team dominated Bucknell in all facets of the game on Saturday, but a multitude of unlucky bounces and clutch saves forced the Mids to take their fight versus the Bison into overtime. The contest between the top-two teams in the Patriot League was decided in the 96th minute when Carolyn Mang (So., Forest Hill, Md.) headed home a Baseley McClaskey (Sr., Grand Junction, Colo.) corner kick on the Mids' (13-2-1, 4-1-1 PL) 26th shot of the day to earn the 1-0 victory. Coming into Saturday ranked second in the conference, the Bison (5-10, 3-3 PL) recorded five saves and saw three Midshipmen shots clank off either the post or crossbar throughout the game at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
 
"That was some good soccer out there for us today," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "We moved the ball well, our possession was great, our backs got into the attack, our forwards made good decisions and our playmakers had the right idea of when to send the ball over the top and when to play to the feet. We were very balanced in our attack today. We can improve on our finishing, but overall I really liked the way we played and I loved the passion that we had."
 
The opening action at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility featured back-and-forth action in which each team was feeling out their opponent's strengths and weaknesses as both Navy and Bucknell tallied two shots over the first 10 minutes of play. The Mids' defense made sure to minimize the threat on both Bison attempts as defenders blocked the shots away from goal.
 
The ensuing 15 minutes saw Kristina Dzhandzhapanyan (Jr., Diamond Bar, Calif.) take aim on breaking the 0-0 tied with a trio of solid scoring opportunities. In the 14th minute, she was on the receiving end of a McClaskey cross, but saw her shot skip wide. Her next shot in the 19th minute was even more dangerous as she caught a looping cross and put a well struck header on frame, but saw the Bison's goalie, Kaylee Donnelly make a diving save.
 
With the game still knotted at 0-0, the game opened up late in the first half as both teams changed the makeup of their lineups and respective playing formations. These changes saw Navy take six shots over the final 10:06 of play. Nearly every one of those shots were threatening to Bucknell. Caitlin Doran (Fr., Queens, N.Y.) had the first dangerous look as she chased down a lead pass in space, juked the goalie on a breakaway before a late dive by the Bison's last defender, Ali Russo, saved Doran's shot on goal from finding the back of the net at 34:54. Less than 90 seconds later, McClaskey, Victoria Tran (So., Clarksville, Md.) and Alex Jackson (Sr., Centennial, Colo.) nearly connected for a Play of the Year goal as McClaskey swung a cross in from the left wing to Tran, who bicycle kicked the ball over her head to Jackson, who connected for a header shot that flew just above the crossbar.
 
The hectic pacing of the last 10-plus minutes of the first half had its exclamation mark in a six-second span from 42:13 through 42:19. With pinball-like precision, a loose ball in Bucknell's box saw Gabby Gordon's (Jr., Fairfax, Va.) strike hit the post before deflecting out to Cadie Higginson (Sr., New Orleans, La.) for a shot on goal that bounced away from Donnelly to a waiting Jackson, who's shot rang off the crossbar.
 
At the end of an exciting, but frustrating opening 45 minutes for Navy, the scoreboard showed a 0-0 score, though the Mids held a substantial 11-3 advantage in shots and 3-0 margin in shots on goal.
 
In a competitiveness that Coach Gabarra would praise postgame, Navy came out of halftime unfazed and motivated to continue its hunt for the first goal of the contest. They did just that as the Mids unleashed another 12 shots in the second half. After Sydney Fortson (Sr., Claremont, Calif.) turned aside Bucknell's only shot on goal of the game, an Abby Gearhart attempt in the 48th minute, it was all Navy.
 
Higginson once again saw a shot on goal get saved by Donnelly in the 61st minute. Another example of Navy's smart and crisp play-making consisted of a Sadie McCaleb (Fr., Loganton, Pa.) throw-in, a Gordon header to space in front of Higginson and a well-struck rip by the Mids' central midfielder.
 
Less than five minutes later, Navy's arch-nemesis, the post, made another appearance as McCaleb squared up a shot towards goal only to see her attempt deflect off the iron. Jackson quickly recovered the loose ball, but as she released her shot it was blocked by a Bucknell defender.
 
The final 25 minutes consisted of more of the same, near misses by the Mids and tight defending by the Bison that helped the visitors survive and force overtime. En total, Navy outshot Bucknell 7-2 during this span of play.
 
Still knotted at 0-0 through the end of regulation, the Mids knew that as long as they kept the pressure on the Bison, good things were likely in their future. That drive and intensity finally paid off and left the hometown fans leaving happy 5:48 into the first overtime period. After earning their eighth corner kick of the game, McClaskey lofted a well-placed cross into the six-yard box where Mang leapt to meet the ball and power a header to the far side of the gaping net with no Bucknell defenders in sight. That final shot was Navy's 26th of the day.
 
For the game, the victorious Mids outshot the Bison, 26-6 with a 7-1 advantage in shots on goal. Navy also tallied eight corner kicks versus zero for Bucknell. In a physical contest, that illustrated what was on the line for both teams, 34 total fouls were called, 18 for the Bison and 16 for the Mids.
 
Fortson made one save in completing her seventh individual shutout of 2019 and 24th of her career.
 
"There was a different intensity and urgency from our group today," exclaimed Gabarra postgame. "From the start through overtime, we had this energy with us and didn't give up, even when the breaks weren't going our way. There is a tendency to hang your head when you miss some chances that you think you could have had, but we stayed on the right path and did the right things. We continued to make the correct choices. We also defended really well today. Our defense was great; they got to play a little higher and got to move the ball a little bit more in the attack, all the while, they were smart and they were safe. They defended a really good counter-attack team in Bucknell.
 
"This win capped a really fun day for us. It was the 20th reunion for our Class of 1999 graduates. We lost a player from that class to breast cancer and with it being October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I think it's fitting to be able to play with that kind of passion and intensity to show the culture that we still have is relevant back to the Class of 1999."


 
Navy will have a quick turnaround as the Mids will have another Patriot League game on the road at American on Wednesday afternoon. Kickoff in Washington, D.C. is set for 3 p.m.