EMMITSBURG, Md. – Matt Nocita (So., Porter Ranch, Calif.) scored his second-straight game-winning goal in the 60th minute as Navy men's soccer (5-0-0) upended Mount St. Mary's (3-1-0) in a battle of two teams who were receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
 
The Midshipmen are off to their first 5-0-0 start since 1991 and Navy has extended their winning streak to nine matches, which is the longest in NCAA Division I Men's Soccer.
 
"I was really happy with our play in the first half and I am happy with our performance tonight," head coach Tim O'Donohue said after the match. "We had some good chances early and probably should have gone up early. After we scored they came at us with nine guys over the last 10 minutes of the match and we did well to defend them. We have a very gritty group of guys and we got a great road win tonight."
 
Early in the match, the Midshipmen had an early chance at goal following a throw-in in the fifth minute of play. After Toni Adewole's (Jr., Clarksburg, Md.) long throw-in that went into the penalty area, Jacob Williams (So., Millersville, Md.) tried to volley home a bouncing ball but his shot was stopped by Andrew Chwalik in goal to keep the game scoreless.
 
In the 16th minute of action, Williams had another chance to break the stalemate. Williams tried to zig-zag past the Mountaineer defense but after finding space Chwalik made a kick save on Williams' left-footed strike from just inside the 18-yard box.
 
Mount St. Mary's had strong spells of possession in the Navy defensive third but the Midshipmen's defense held the Mountaineers to no shots on goal in the first half, while Navy placed two on goal. The Midshipmen also held a 4-2 in shots during the first 45 minutes of action. Navy's scoreless first half was its first since October 24, 2018, at Lafayette where the Midshipmen used a pair of second-half goals to beat the Leopards.
 
Right out of the gate in the second half, Mount St. Mary's had a free-kick from 20 yards out and Ian Bramblett (Jr., Easley, S.C.) pushed Juan Molina's shot from the free-kick over the crossbar to keep the game knotted at zero. Play started to open up after Adewole stole the ball from a Mountaineer defender and played the ball up to Nicko West (Jr., Mansfield, Texas) on the left-wing. Williams then found himself unmarked inside the penalty area but his shot was pushed just wide of the goal.
 
Navy finally found the back of the net in the 60th minute of the contest to take a 1-0 lead over Mount St. Mary's. Following another long throw-in, Nocita tried to head the ball toward goal but after his attempted header did not reach the target, Nocita one-touched the loose ball into the back of the net to give the Midshipmen the one-goal edge. Nocita's goal is the defender's third of the year, which leads the Midshipmen.
 
After taking the 1-0 lead in the match, Navy's defense started to take over as the Mountaineers recorded five shots over the final 30 minutes of the match. However, Navy did not allow a single shot on goal to seal the 1-0 victory.
 
Navy finished with a 9-8 in shots including a 4-1 advantage in shots on goal. Bramblett finished with one save on the night as the Midshipmen extended their shutout streak to 362:30.
 
The Midshipmen are back on the road on Wednesday as they travel to Farmville, Va., to face Longwood at 7 p.m.