ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's soccer team rounded out its early-season run of non-conference play with a dominant 3-0 win at home over the Howard University Bison. Facing off with the Bison (3-2) at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, the Mids (8-1) notched a goal in the fourth minute and never looked back on their way to their seventh consecutive victory. Just two days after a physical one-goal game at La Salle, Navy relied on its depth to bolster its effort on Tuesday as 21 different Mids saw action, three different players recorded goals and two goalkeepers split time in the goal for a combined shutout.
 
Individual standouts in the tilt, included goal scorers, Gracie Checkan (Fr., Gaithersburg, Md.), Baseley McClaskey (Sr., Grand Junction, Colo.) and Victoria Tran (So., Clarksville, Md.), Kaitlyn McKeown (Fr., Newbury Park, Calif.), who assisted on two goals and the goalkeeping duo of Molly Swiger (Jr., Johns Creek, Ga.) and Megan LaMendola (So., Springdale, Ark.), who combined on Tuesday's clean sheet.
 
"We want to approach every game the same, just like the previous one, but I don't think we were as mentally engaged today as we normally are," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "It's hard playing a little earlier in the day in a mid-week game, but we regardless of those factors we have to be sharper and play our brand of soccer every time we're out here. We're heading into conference play now so we want to start peaking and be getting better each game as we go.
 
"Our defense has been strong all year. We have been switching up of systems and looks at different times throughout games so far this season and I like the smoothness and how we've been able to transition from one to another fairly seamlessly. I like that different players are getting different looks and getting experience in different styles. We're really learning our strengths, as well as focusing on some of our weaknesses and working to minimize them. I think we're ready to get into a tough conference schedule."
 
The Mids came out the gate fast on Tuesday before hitting a bit of a lull in the middle of the first half. The early action at Glenn Warner saw Caitlin Doran (Fr., Queens, N.Y.) curl a cross in from the right wing to a charging McKeown, who saw her header attempt skip wide of the Howard net just 34 seconds into the game. A little over three minutes later, McKeown got another chance to get Navy on the scoreboard as she dribbled into the box, left of the goal mouth, before playing a crisp pass on the ground to Checkan, who powered a one-timer shot at 3:41 past the Bison's diving goalkeeper, Alayah Hightower.
 
Navy kept the pressure on Hightower and the Howard defense with two more shots on goal over the next 15 minutes, courtesy of Jeana Freeman (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.) and McClaskey.
 
Following that initially spurt, the action from the 20-minute mark through the waning minutes of the first half was centrally located with neither team commanding much possession in the attacking third. The Mids tallied just two off-target shots during this span of play. Navy's last best scoring opportunity in the first half was a build from the midfield by Tran that saw Hannah Miller (So., Mattawan, Mich.) collect the ball in space and dart towards goal before Hightower left her line and deflected the ball away in the 42nd minute. Howard's best look in the first half was a lengthy shot on goal by Victoria Thornton with 49 seconds left in the period that required a leaping save from Swiger on the goal line.
 
Coming out of the locker room with just a one-goal lead, Navy quickly looked to add an insurance goal in the early portion of the second half. Once again, McKeown proved herself to be a dangerous facilitator as she took a pass from Checkan and dribbled up the middle of the field. After holding off a Howard defender, she fed a sprinting McClaskey for an overlap run. Following a few dribbles inside the 18-yard box, McClaskey unleashed a hard shot to the back of the net at 50:18 to put the Mids up 2-0 over the Bison.
 
Howard immediately turned around and tried to scratch away at its deficit, but to no avail as Swiger was up to the task with saves in the 53rd and 72nd minutes of play.
 
The final goal of the game came in the 74th minute as Tran took control of a loose ball in the middle of the 18, that Howard had failed to clear after a Navy free kick into the box. Once in possession of the ball, Tran looped a shot past Hightower to her left.
 
Navy had two more shots on goal down the stretch as Olivia Foster (Fr., Brighton, Mich.) and Gabby Gordon (Jr., Fairfax, Va.) put shots on target in the final six minutes of regulation. Unfortunately for the Mids, Hightower made saves on both attempts.
 
In the 3-0 victory, Navy outshot Howard, 18-8 with an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal.
 
Playing the first 75:31 of the contest, Swiger made all five saves for Navy. In her collegiate debut, LaMendola was in net for the final 14:29 to seal the Mids' fifth shutout of 2019.
 
With 21 players seeing action on Tuesday only three Mids accumulated 75 or more minutes of field time: Carolyn Mang (So., Forest Hill, Md.), Sadie McCaleb (Fr., Loganton, Pa.) and Swiger. Mang played the complete 90 minutes as a center midfielder, while McCaleb was on the pitch for 85 minutes in Navy's defensive third.
 
Navy will now turn its attention to the Colgate Raiders in the 2019 Patriot League conference opener for both teams. The kickoff between the Mids and Raiders is set for 7 p.m. in Hamilton, N.Y. this Saturday night.
 
Picked second in the preseason Patriot League poll, Gabarra knows what her squad is up against this Saturday when Navy travels to central New York. "Colgate is a good, quality team. Road games are always an added test in the Patriot League and Hamilton is real hard place to play at. We'll use what we've learned in non-conference play and come as prepared as we possibly can be. We are ready to give them a good game on Saturday."