ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  Attackman Christian Daniel (So / Owings, Md.) scored four goals and netminder Ryan Kern (Jr / Middletown, Del.) made a career-high tying 18 saves, but an overtime goal by Matt Manown proved to be the difference as 20th-ranked Army (9-3, 5-2 Patriot League) topped the Navy men's lacrosse team (5-6, 3-4 Patriot League), 9-8, Saturday afternoon in what marked the 100th game in the series.

"I am awfully proud of the way my guys battled back and competed today," said eighth-year Navy head coach Rick Sowell. "I thought it was what you would expect out of an Army-Navy game - both teams laying it out on the line. I thought our guys played tremendously hard and with a lot of a grit. The game came down to making the last play."

Though Army held its largest lead of three goals early in the third quarter, it seemed fitting the game would come down to the wire. Three of the last four Star Games have been decided by one goal (11-10 win by Navy in 2016, 9-8 win by Navy in 2018).

The two teams exchanged goals in the early minutes of the game before back-to-back goals by Daniel gave the Mids a 3-2 advantage with six minutes to go in the opening period. Army, however, not only answered on the offensive end, but its defense stepped up and showed why its the fourth-ranked defensive unit in the country.

The Black Knights held Navy without a goal for the final 20:54 of the opening half as they built a 6-3 lead at the break. Rookie Brendan Nichtern, the nation's top scoring freshman, was sensational for Army in the opening half where he played a role in five of the team's six goals (2G, 3A).

Navy turned the tables on the Black Knights in the second half as the Mids' offense picked up the pace while Army's offense was stymied by Navy's defense.

Co-captain Ryan Wade (Sr / Coronado, Calif.) extended his consecutive games with a point streak to 35 in a row as he found fellow co-captain Greyson Torain (Sr / Glen Burnie, Md.) cutting up the middle and Torain punched in his lone goal of the game to trim the Army lead to two just under three minutes into the third quarter.

An extra-man opportunity by the Mids just minutes later was squandered when an errant pass found its way into the stick of Army short-stick defensive middie Anthony George and he executed the fastbreak to perfection, feeding senior attackman Nate Jones for the man-down goal.

Navy again answered at the 8:06 mark when attackman Nick Cole (Fr / Ashburn, Va.) used some fancy footwork to break free from Army defenseman Griffin Schultz and curl around the left side of the cage to get the Mids back to within two (7-5).

The Mids began the fourth quarter by scoring a pair of goals in the opening minute-and-a-half to knot the game for the first time since 1:52 in the first quarter (3-3). Senior Drew Smiley (Shrewsbury, Mass.) forced a turnover by George and an alert Christian Daniel picked up the loose ball at the left elbow and found the back of the net at 13:55. Just 30 seconds later, Wade blew past All-American defenseman Johnny Surdick and found a way to thread his shot past Army keeper AJ Barretto from the right alleyway to lock the game at 7-7.

Navy's ride gave Army fits on the ensuing play as it appeared to have Barretto trapped without an outlet. Barretto, however, managed to find the unmarked man and the Black Knights had numbers on the Mids to complete the transition goal by junior attackman Miles Silva for the go-ahead score at 12:39.

Despite a number of opportunites, neither team scored for 11-plus minutes until a penalty by Army long-stick defensive midfielder Kyle Beyer set up the fourth extra-man opportunity of the day for the Mids. With 1:26 remaining in regulation, Wade found Daniel cutting to the middle of the field where he pulled up with his signature lefty jumpshot to tie the game at 8-8.

Navy freshman Nick Barry (Islip, N.Y.) came up with the ensuing faceoff, putting the ball in the sticks of his offense. Daniel held for a final shot, but Barretto turned it aside to force overtime.

"Words can't describe what it feels like when you tie up the game with a goal," said Daniel. "That last one, though, will stick with me for awhile. I didn't make the smartest lacrosse decision or play with the most confidence I could have, but it's in the past now.'

Though Army won just six of the 20 draws in the game, none would prove to be bigger than the final faceoff where rookie defenseman Marcus Hudgins picked up the ground ball for Army. With the shot clock under 10 seconds, Manown slipped his defender from the left crease and beat Kern for the game-winner.

"He got the inside roll on us," recounted Kern. "I saw him coming in and told myself I was going to make the same. I tried to match him stick to stick and he pulled up high on me. He made a good move.

"The Army-Navy game is mentally and physically the most exhausting game," added Kern, who moved past Kelly Award winner Matt Russell (2003-06) for 10th on Navy's all-time saves list with 389 saves. "They gave me 62 minutes and then some of everything they had and I tried to do the same."

Daniel paced the Mids with four goals, while Cole added a pair. Wade, meanwhile, tallied three points with a goal and two assists.

Barry had a strong day at faceoff where he won 14 of the 20 draws (.700) and became just the second Navy freshman to eclipse 100 faceoff wins (106), joining Brady Dove (163 in 2014).

Despite being held without a point over the final 44 minutes of the game, Nichtern led the way for Army with five points on two goals and three assists, while Jones pitched in three goals. Barretto made nine stops for the Black Knights.

The Midshipmen will step out of conference play next Saturday when they play host to 11th-ranked Syracuse at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. CBS Sports Network will televise the game beginning at 5:00 pm with John Sadak and Evan Washburn on the call, while Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller will broadcast the game on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV.

### Go Navy ###