ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The first road game of the 2019 season for the Navy men's soccer team (4-0-0) comes against Mount St. Mary's (3-0-0) in a battle of two teams who are currently receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Midshipmen take on the Mountaineers on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Emmitsburg, Md.
Navy is currently on an eight-match winning streak to lead all of NCAA Division I Men's Soccer and the four-straight victories to open the 2019 season has Navy 13 places outside of the top 25 of the national poll with eight total points. Mount St. Mary's is receiving votes for the second-straight week and is five spots outside the top 25 with 19 points.
The Midshipmen are coming off a week where they picked up three victories all in shutout fashion to carry a shutout streak of 272:30 into the weekend. Navy's last victory came against Saint Peter's where the Midshipmen won a 2-0 contest after goals from Matt Nocita and Jacob Williams. The duo of Nocita and Williams are the first multi-goal scorers for Navy this season with two apiece. The Midshipmen have had a balanced offense with six goals coming from four different players and they have seven players with at least two points in the early portion of the year.
On the defensive side, Navy's backline has helped Ian Bramblett allow just one goal over two matches for a 0.25 goals-against average. Bramblett – who was named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week – also has nine saves and a .900 save percentage, to go along with three shutouts. As a team, Navy has only allowed 10 shots on goal, while blocking 13 shots on the year.
Mount St. Mary's comes into the weekend with a 3-0-0 record and is coming off a 1-0 victory on the road against Howard on Tuesday. Boris Nana Tonzi and Yann Kouemi lead the Mountaineers with two goals each, to go along with the team's third four-point scorer Juan Molina with a goal and a pair of assists. Miguel Lucero is just shy of the four-point mark with three assists. Mount St. Mary's has flipped the script from the 2018 season and have already surpassed its win total from a year ago when the Mountaineers went 2-10-4 overall.
In the all-time series, the Midshipmen hold a 6-1-2 edge over Mount St. Mary's but the two teams have split the only two matchups in Emmitsburg. The last time the two programs met with Mount St. Mary's hosting, the Mountaineers came away with a 3-0 home against Navy in 2008. In the last meeting between Navy and Mount St. Mary's, the Midshipmen won a 3-1 neutral site affair in Baltimore during the 2009 season.
