ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The third-seeded Navy men's soccer team (12-3-1) begins its postseason run as it hosts Bucknell (5-6-7) in one of two Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinal matches. The Midshipmen and Bison begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon from the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
Navy is set to make its 11th appearance in the Patriot League Tournament and first since 2014. Since the league tournament was expanded to six teams in 2013, this marks the program's first-ever appearance in the tournament quarterfinals. The Midshipmen are set to make their second appearance in the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 3 seed after earning the third seed during the 1996 tournament and going 1-1-0 in the tournament that year.
This season, the Midshipmen earned the No. 3 seed in the field after finishing the Patriot League season with a record of 5-3-1 for 16 points.
Diego Manrique sealed Navy's seed and a home match as he scored the team's game-winning goal in the 82nd minute against Lafayette in a 1-0 home victory for the Midshipmen. The win this past Wednesday allowed Navy to jump over Lafayette for the third spot in the league standings.
Ian Bramblett also tied the program record for most shutouts in a season with his 10th shutout of the season on Wednesday. His 10 shutouts are tied with Gavin Snyder's 10 clean sheets in 2013. Bramblett now has 11 career shutouts during his time at Navy and is just one shutout away from moving into the top five in program history for career shutouts.
The Navy defense has anchored the team throughout the season as the Midshipmen rank top five in the nation in save percentage (.846), shutout percentage (.625), goals-against average (0.49) and total shutouts (10). The trio of
Matt Nocita,
Tyler Collins and Bramblett have paced the team on defense. Nocita was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year earlier on Friday while the pair of Bramblett and Collins were selected to the Second Team All-Patriot League.
On the offensive end,
Jacob Williams – who was a First Team All-Patriot League selection – leads the team with 18 points after compiling seven goals and four assists throughout the regular season. All four of Williams' assists came in Patriot League play to led the Midshipmen. Third Team All-League performer
Nicko West is tied with Williams with seven goals and he is just behind with 16 points. West guided Navy in league matches with six goals this year. The midfield also produced All-League honorees
Wyatt Millard (second team) and Manrique (third team). Millard is tied for second on the team with four assists and Manrique's five assists lead the team.
Bucknell comes into the weekend with a record of 5-6-7 overall and earned the sixth and final spot in the league tournament after playing to a 1-1 draw with Lehigh earlier this week. The Bison have gone winless over their last five matches but only dropped one match after collecting four draws. First Team All-Patriot League midfielder Matt Thorsheim leads Bucknell this season with 15 points after collecting five goals and five assists. However, in league contests this year, Patrick O'Hara has paced the team with three goals and an assist and he is the lone multi-goal scorer for the Bison in league play.
On defense, the Bison feature All-League Second Team performer Quinn Bredin on the backline as Bucknell has posted a 0.92 goals-against average overall this season and a 0.69 goals-against average in league action. Luke Smith started in 11 matches including all nine Patriot League affairs to post a 0.64 goals-against average and a .778 save percentage.
Earlier this season, the Midshipmen and Bison met in early October in Annapolis, where the Midshipmen tallied a pair of second-half goals just 51 seconds apart.
Joe Alex notched the game-winning goal and West followed with an insurance goal to seal Navy's 2-0 home victory. In the all-time series, the Midshipmen hold a record of 27-14-4 over Bucknell with Navy also winning 22 of 30 matches played in Annapolis.
The Midshipmen and Bison have met twice in the league tournament where Navy won the first meeting in 1-0 fashion at home during the 2013 tournament semifinals. Then in the 2014 semifinals, the two programs played to a scoreless draw in Boston, Mass., where the Bison advanced to the championship on penalty kicks.
The other quarterfinal match in the league tournament features No. 4-seeded Lafayette hosting No. 5 seeded Colgate on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Easton, Pa. The winner of the two quarterfinal matches will move on to face top-seeded Lehigh and No. 2-seeded Loyola – who shared the Patriot League regular-season title this fall. The tournament semifinals take place on Tuesday, November 12 and the championship match takes place on Saturday, November 16 with the higher seed hosting all tournament matches.
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. Fans may park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for $5 and take a shuttle that will run every 10 minutes starting one hour before the game and will continue running until one hour after the game is completed. Fans 18 and over need a government-issued photo ID. Enter Gate 5 off Taylor Ave. to park at the stadium. Dogs are not permitted inside the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. All soccer contests at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility will be free of charge.
