ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy men's soccer team (11-1-1, 4-1-1 Patriot League) is back on the road this weekend as the Midshipmen head to Boston, Mass., for a league contest against Boston University (3-10-1, 2-4-0 Patriot League) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Nickerson Field.
After missing out on an opportunity to clinch a spot in the Patriot League Tournament last weekend, Navy controls its own destiny to secure a spot in the league tournament. If the Midshipmen win on Saturday afternoon, they will clinch a berth into the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2014. Lehigh is currently the only team locked into the postseason tournament.
Navy dropped its first match of the season last time out after falling to Lehigh in a 2-0 affair with first place in the Patriot League on the line. The Midshipmen's 16-match unbeaten streak was snapped and it marked the first time in over a year that Navy was held without a goal. The Midshipmen held an 11-8 advantage in shots with both sides finishing with four shots on goal. After scoring first in the first 12 matches of the season, last Saturday marked the first time all season Navy had trailed in a match. Since the start of 2016, the Midshipmen are now just 2-23-3 when their opponent scores first.
Coming into the weekend, the pair of Jacob Williams and Nicko West lead the Navy offense with 17 points and 14 points, respectively. However, Williams has been held off the scoresheet since a two-goal game at American on October 2 and West has not tallied a point since October 6 against Bucknell.
The defense is also looking to get back on track after allowing two goals in a match for the first time since October 11, 2018, in a 4-1 loss against Army. On the season, the Midshipmen have a 0.38 goals-against average with Ian Bramblett playing all 1,190 minutes in goal for Navy. The junior goalkeeper has made 27 of Navy's 30 saves this season en route to a .844 save percentage and as a team, the Midshipmen have combined for a .857 save percentage. Navy currently ranks second in the country with nine shutouts and trails only sixth-ranked Virginia, who has 11 on the year.
Boston comes into the weekend with a record of 3-10-1 overall and is 2-4-0 in the Patriot League. The Terriers are currently in seventh place in the league standings with six points. After going winless over the first 10 games of the season, Boston rattled off three-straight wins before losing a 3-0 match at Bucknell this past weekend.
Matt McDonnell has guided the Terrier offense this season with seven goals and 14 points. He is the only player with multiple goals for Boston as just four other players have tallied a goal to combine for the Terriers 11 goals this season. Michael Stone has been the main starter in goal for Boston with 12 starts and he has a goals-against average of 1.69 and a .706 save percentage.
In the brief series between Navy and Boston, the Terriers have controlled the series and have won four of the six matches all time. The Midshipmen's only two wins against Boston came in the first all-time meeting in 2013 and last year's contest. In last year's match between Navy and Boston, the Midshipmen recorded their second come from behind win under head coach Tim O'Donohue and scored the final two goals against the Terriers to win 2-1, which sparked Navy's 16-match unbeaten streak. In matches played in Boston, Navy has gone 0-3-0 compared to a 2-1-0 record against the Terriers in Annapolis.
