ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy men's soccer team (4-0-0) wrapped up its season-opening homestand with a 2-0 win over Saint Peter's (1-2-0) as the Midshipmen tied their best start since 2010 on Sunday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Since 1980, Navy has won its first four matches of the season just twice as the Midshipmen started 4-0-0 in 1991 and 2010. Navy's 1991 squad picked up five-straight wins to start the season.
Matt Nocita (So., Porter Ranch, Calif.) and Jacob Williams (So., Millersville, Md.) each notched their second goals of the season, while duo of Diego Manrique (Sr., Buford, Ga.) and Toni Adewole (Jr., Clarksburg, Md.) each picked up their second assists of the season. Seven of Navy's eight goals this season have been assisted goals with the lone unassisted goal being an own goal from St. Bonaventure in the Midshipmen's contest on Friday night.
"I am really happy with our second half defending tonight," head coach Tim O'Donohue said. "I am really pleased with how we played in the second half. Playing two games in three days can be tough, but our fitness came out in the second half. We played quickly and had a couple of chances to increase our lead early in the second half. We are still a young team, we are still learning and we are still trying to get better every day. We have given up one goal over the first four games and our back four has been unbelievable."
Out of the gate, the Peacocks held the early advantage on the offensive end with long spells of possession including the first four shots of the game. Saint Peter's first attempt at goal came off the head of Dominic Laws, however, Laws' header went right into the hands of Ian Bramblett (Jr., Easley, S.C.) just two minutes into the match.
The Midshipmen started to turn the field in their favor with five of the next six shots forcing Robbie Anderson to make a save in the 15th and 16th minutes. On Navy's first corner kick of the night in the 32nd minute, Manrique sent a high cross to the back post where Nocita headed home his second goal of the season. Both of Nocita's goals in 2019 have come from Manrique's corner kicks.
With Navy holding a 1-0 lead, Saint Peter's continued to try and press on the offensive end with the final four shots of the first half and the Peacocks had three corner kicks in the final 12 minutes of the half. However, the Midshipmen defense did not let any of the shots down the stretch reach Bramblett as the first half ended with Navy holding a 1-0 advantage.
In the first half, Saint Peter's outshot the Midshipmen, 10-6, but Navy held a 3-1 edge in shots on target.
To start the second half, the Midshipmen looked to take control of the match with Nicko West (Jr., Mansfield, Texas) peppering the Peacock goal. West forced Anderson to make a save just five minutes into the half and the West had a one-on-one opportunity against Anderson, but he pushed his shot wide. West's scoring chances did not go away as his third shot of the second half hit the post and Navy was unable to double its lead in the early portion of the period.
The pair of Manrique and Nocita tried to connect on the Midshipmen's second corner kick of the night, but Nocita's header sailed just over the crossbar. Navy did not let off the gas as it continued to search for the second goal of the match and had seven shots in the first 17 minutes of the second half.
Following multiple near misses, the Midshipmen finally found the back of the net for the second time in the 75th minute. After Adewole made a run down the right-wing and picked up a step on his defender, Adewole centered the ball into the middle of the penalty area where he found an unmarked Williams who headed in the ball to push Navy's lead to 2-0.
Now facing a two-goal deficit with 15 minutes left in the match, Saint Peter's started to press the Navy backline looking to find their way back into the match. However, Bramblett and the Navy defense stood tall and kept the shutout. Bramblett needed to make just one save down the stretch, while the defense continued to block and force shots to miss the frame as the Midshipmen picked up the 2-0 victory.
"We talk about at halftime that it is a 90-minute game and we are trying to wear teams down with our fitness, our athleticism and our pressing. We try and play high tempo for 90 minutes and we really try and wear them down." O'Donohue commented on his team's strong second half.
With the victory, Navy extended its winning streak to eight matches, which is the longest winning streak in all of NCAA Division I men's soccer. Six teams are behind the Midshipmen with four-match winning streaks after this weekend's action. Navy also has a shutout streak of 272:30 following its third-straight shutout.
Following this weekend's crossover with UMBC, where the Midshipmen and Retrievers both took on St. Bonaventure and Saint Peter's, Nocita was named Most Valuable Player of the event, while Williams, Manrique, Bramblett and Tyler Collins (So., Crofton, Md.) joined Nocita on the All-Tournament Team.
Navy now hits the road for the first time in 2019 as it travels to Mount St. Mary's – who is receiving votes in the national poll – on Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest in Emmitsburg, Md.
