ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's soccer team continued playing its strong brand of well-rounded team soccer on Saturday night as the Mids knocked off the Lehigh Mountain Hawks by a score of 1-0 in a Patriot League showdown at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Scoreless through 79 minutes of play, the Mids' (11-1-1, 3-0-1 PL) constant pressure finally resulted in a goal when Kristina Dzhandzhapanyan (Jr., Diamond Bar, Calif.) banged home a deflected Jeana Freeman (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.) shot on goal at 79:33. Navy's defense was equally as impressive on Saturday night as it held Lehigh (3-5-4, 1-3 PL) to just six shots and two on goal.
 
"The wind was a major factor in tonight's matchup; it affected possession and ball movement throughout," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "We did a good job of getting forward in the first half, but we didn't take advantage of having the wind. That made it a little harder on ourselves. Lehigh had the wind in the second half and had a few more opportunities on offense. We have to be smarter in our game management and understand how some of these environmental factors influence us and do better with that.
 
"Overall, I liked the soccer that we played and I liked the way that we got numbers forward. I liked the combinations that we played both wide and centrally and I really liked the mentality to get it done and never stop fighting."
 
With strong winds whipping towards the Lehigh goal in the first half, Navy was anxious to take advantage of the little extra zip that all of their crosses had. That was noticeable to those in attendance as the Mids' best looks at net were off of corners or free kick restarts. Twice Navy saw attackers crash the net in hopes of connecting on headers, but unfortunately both attempts, the first by Avery Fries (So., Draper, Utah) and the second by Alex Jackson (Sr., Centennial, Colo.) missed their target. The Mids' final corner kick of the first half was whipped into the box and recovered by Lexie Silva (Sr., Danville, Calif.), who's shot was blocked, but bounced to Fries, who immediately ripped a shot on goal that was denied by the Mountain Hawks' goalkeeper, Miranda Royds.
 
Navy's fourth shot on goal of the half was a crisply played combination of passes that started with Fries, flicked on by Hannah Miller (So., Mattawan, Mich.) and deflected on frame by Carolyn Mang (So., Forest Hill, Md.) to test Royds once more.
 
Scoreless at the half, Navy was outshooting Lehigh by a 10-2 margin with a 4-1 advantage in shots on goal.
 
The action switched up a bit in the second half as the visiting Mountain Hawks were able to muster up more offense with the wind at their backs. Bending, but not breaking the Mids only allowed one of the Mountain Hawks' four shots to test Sydney Fortson (Sr., Claremont, Calif.) in goal, a Ryelle Shuey header in the 87th minute. Fortson also came up clutch earlier in the half as she punched away a dangerous Lehigh corner kick in the 58th minute.
 
Playing into the wind, Navy had to work harder and smarter with shorter passes. One of these such possessions involved Cadie Higginson (Sr., New Orleans, La.) finding Victoria Tran (So., Clarksville, Md.) in space with a low cross in the 64th minute. The midfielder connection nearly resulted in a goal as Tran headed the ball past Royds right before the two players collided. Unlucky for Tran, Lehigh's Erin Keefe was able to sweep the bouncing ball off the goal line for the team save.
 
The 0-0 stalemate continued late into the contest before a quick series of shots on goal resulted in the game's first and only score. After Freeman's initial shot on goal was stopped by Royds, Dzhandzhapanyan found the deflected ball at her feet for the easy tap-in from inside the six-yard box at 79:33.
 
For the game, Navy outshot Lehigh, 15-6, while holding a 7-2 mark in shots on goal. The host Midshipmen also recorded more corner kicks, 6-4.
 
The shutout was the eighth in 13 games for Navy this season. Individually, Fortson has backstopped six of those shutouts to give her 23 clean sheets in her decorated career.
 
"Our defenders played very well tonight, especially in the second half when they had to deal with the wind in their faces," said Gabarra. "They were strong all night. They were strong on the ball and they were strong in their organization. They held their line high and kept everything in front of them. They played with the ball a lot and were a key part of our possession. This was a very good game for our defense."
 
Playing their third game in eight days tonight, the Mids will have a week off before facing off with the Holy Cross Crusaders in Worcester, Mass. next Saturday afternoon. The action between Navy and Holy Cross is set for 2 p.m. at the Smith Soccer Stadium.