ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In the regular season finale for the Navy women's soccer team, the host Midshipmen dominated the visiting Loyola Greyhounds in all facets of the game minus the scoreboard as the two squads battled for 110 minutes of scoreless action on Friday night. Outshooting the Greyhounds (6-7-4, 3-2-4 PL), 25-2, the Mids (15-2-2, 6-1-2 PL) were unable to find the back of the net as Loyola packed its defensive third throughout the contest and received strong goalkeeping from freshman Paige Sim.
 
"We played some good soccer tonight," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "Our serving was okay, though some was a little bit off. We created chances throughout the game. The opportunities were there, but we just didn't hop on them like we needed to. They [Loyola] worked super hard to defend and get numbers behind the ball and disrupt us and that worked. It's very hard to play against a team with so many numbers back. We trained for it, but didn't really execute on the chances that we had. We need to learn from tonight and get better moving forward. We have a week to be at our best."
 
The 2019 Patriot League regular season champions immediately flexed their offensive muscle in front of their home fans at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility on Friday night as the Mids recorded seven shots over the first 20 minutes. Baseley McClaskey (Sr., Grand Junction, Colo.) was at the forefront of this offensive action as she tested Sim in the 11th and 14th minutes with shots on goal. The senior's second shot was particularly difficult as her attempt deflected off a Greyhound player and knuckled towards Sim. Also during that initial run of play, the Mids tallied two shots within six seconds of each other as a Kaitlynn Johns (Fr., Austin, Texas) shot clanked off the crossbar before Kaitlyn McKeown (Fr., Newbury Park, Calif.) pushed the rebound high over the frame.
 
The Mids' best scoring opportunity in the first half came in the 29th minute when McClaskey lined up her free kick chance directly on goal from 25 yards out. After originally looping high and rising, her shot curled and dropped late towards the back post until Sim leapt up to catch the ball and keep the score knotted at 0-0.
 
For the first half, Navy outshot Loyola, 13-2 with a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal.
 
In was more of the same in the second half, as the Mids tallied eight shots, while shutting out the Greyhounds in the shot category. Navy looked to break the scoreless stalemate in the 60th minute when Loyola was called for a hand ball in the box. As she has done twice before this season, Cadie Higginson (Sr., New Orleans, La.) stepped to the line for the penalty kick, though this time she was denied as Sim made a diving save.
 
The Greyhound's freshman keeper made two more saves in the second half on a pair of McClaskey attempts in the 88th and 90th minutes of play. McClaskey's first shot on goal was a free kick blast from 30 yards out that had eyes for the left upper-90 corner until Sim jumped up to corral the ball.
 
Tied 0-0 after 90 minutes, the game continued into familiar territory for the Mids with their third overtime game in their last four contests. Victorious over Bucknell and Boston University, Navy tried to drum up that extra time magic once again on Friday. Higginson was first up to try and earn the golden goal sudden victory as she was on the receiving end of a Jeana Freeman (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.) cross into the box that she leapt and headed just wide of the back post in the 94th minute. The Mids would take two more shots in that first overtime period, though neither were on target.
 
Higginson was on the receiving end of another slick cross-shot combination in the second overtime as McClaskey dribbled the ball up the left wing before finding the hard-charging Higginson near the penalty spot for a quick one-time flick on goal. Like she had in the prior six shots on goal, Sim was there to make the stop and hold Navy off the scoreboard.
 
That was the last shot for either team as the game would go final with a 0-0 score. For the contest, Navy outshot Loyola, 25-2 with a 7-1 advantage in shots on goal. The Mids also held a significant edge in corner kicks over the Greyhounds, 7-2. Navy's defense held Loyola without a shot attempt for the final 67:24 of the game.
 
The shutout was Navy's 13th of the season and 10th individually for Sydney Fortson (Sr., Claremont, Calif.). 10 clean sheets are the most ever by a Midshipmen goalkeeper in her senior year and gives Fortson 27 for her career. Navy's team goals against average now drops to 0.35 for the 2019 season.
 
Prior to the game, the program honored its six-player senior class of Sydney Fortson, Cadie Higginson, Alex Jackson, Baseley McClaskey, Lexie Silva and Ashley Sweet. As a unit, the Class of 2020 has won 51 games so far and appeared in the Patriot League Tournament in all four years.
 
"We played hard and inspired in honor of our seniors tonight," said Gabarra. "The energy and passion was there. All of the pieces and intangibles were good. This class has been super influential in so many ways. We just have to re-group a bit from tonight. I know this is going to sting and hurt them, but we have to get better from it and be ready to go next weekend.
 
"We're looking forward to competing once again in the Patriot League Tournament. It's nice to be playing at home; hopefully in front of a nice home crowd. The preparation begins now."
 
By virtue of Friday night's tie, Navy finishes its 2019 regular season with a 6-1-2 record in league play, good for 20 points in the Patriot League standings, number one overall. Loyola's result locks the Greyhounds into the fourth seed in next week's tournament and a home date for quarterfinal action.
 
Navy will await the winner of Tuesday's quarterfinals as the program will play host to the 2019 Patriot League Semifinals and Championship Final next Friday and Sunday, respectively at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.

2019 Patriot League Standings
1-Navy (6-1-2)       20 points *Clinched first place
T2-Holy Cross (3-1-5) 14 points || Clinched 2nd or 3rd place, TBD
T2-Army (4-2-2)       14 points *Clinched 2nd or 3rd place || Sat. at Colgate
4-Loyola (3-2-4)     13 points || *Clinched fourth place
5-Bucknell (3-4-2)   11 points || TBD
T6-Lafayette (2-2-4)     10 points  || Sat. vs. Boston U.
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T6-Lehigh (3-5-1)     10 points || Season Over (lost head-to-head w/Lafayette)
8-Colgate (2-3-3)        9 points || Sat. vs. Army
9-Boston (2-5-1)         7 points || Sat at Lafayette
10-American (1-4-4)    7 points || Season Over