BLACKSBURG, Va. – In its final game of an abbreviated 2020 fall season, the Navy women's soccer team went toe-to-toe for 90 minutes versus a Virginia Tech club that competed in the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons. Following an offensive first half, in which the teams combined for three goals, the Hokies' 2-1 lead at the intermission would hold on as the final score as neither squad was able to find the back of the net in the second half. The freshmen duo of Jenna Daunt (Haymarket, Va.) and Mattie Gallagher (Gilbertsville, Pa.) led the Mids' (0-3) effort on Saturday against the Hokies (3-7, 2-4 ACC) at Thompson Field as Daunt netted her first collegiate goal, while Gallagher made eight saves in her first start at goalkeeper.
 
"The fight was there all game today, which I'm extremely pleased with," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "It was much better than last game so that's a real positive that we ended our season with good fight, energy and pride. We really represented ourselves well. 
 
"Mattie was very good in goal today, she showed a lot of poise and composure. Jenna continues to impress and scored a really nice goal; her movement off the ball was excellent all game. At the end of the first half, I thought we were right there if not for a couple of breakdowns. I thought we had just as many good scoring chances; Tina's shot off the post early on would've changed the game if it was just two inches over."
 
Navy's offense started off strong early on Saturday as the forward pairing of Kristina Dzhandzhapanyan (Sr., Diamond Bar, Calif.) and Molly Gillcrist (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) were active in the attacking third as Dzhandzhapanyan had a shot on goal saved 71 seconds into the contest before Gillcrist's attempt was blocked by a Virginia Tech defender at the five-minute mark. A little over a minute later, Dzhandzhapanyan ripped a low line drive shot past Alia Skinner, the Hokies' keeper, but the ball rang off the far goal post and ricocheted near the goal line, but unfortunately for the Mids it never crossed before Skinner jumped on the loose ball.
 
Making her first career start, Gallagher was tested soon after as Virginia Tech's Emily Gray forced the Mids' keeper to make a diving save in the ninth minute. Her second save was also noteworthy as she leapt towards the back post and caught a Makenzie Graham shot on the goal line.
 
The host Hokies eventually broke through with the game's first goal in the 22nd minute as Gray found a streaking Tori Powell, who went to goal one-on-one with Gallagher.
 
Virginia Tech increased its lead to 2-0 in the 41st minute when Allyson Brown collected a rebound off of a save and deposited the loose ball into the back of the net.
 
Navy recaptured a bit of momentum before the halftime intermission when Daunt took a Carolyn Mang (Jr., Forest Hill, Md.) pass up the right wing and into the goal box before beating Skinner one-on-one to the near post. The goal came with 42 seconds remaining in the half at 44:18.
 
At the half, the scoreboard and supplementary stats were tight as the Hokies held a two-shot advantage over the Mids, 7-5.
 
The second half opened with slow building offensive action as both teams registered just one shot over the first 15 minutes. The Mids' first shot on goal of the second half came in the 64th minute when Daunt tested Skinner with a low attempt that was turned aside.
 
Virginia Tech made sure that it's one-goal lead would stand up for the final 26 minutes as Navy was unable to put another shot on goal for the remainder of the contest.
 
Gallagher and the Mids' defense stood strong versus an active Hokie squad during the closing portion of the game as she made three more saves to give her eight for the match.
 
In the 2-1 victory for Virginia Tech, the Hokies outshot the Mids, 17-7 with a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Hokies had five corner kicks versus two for the Mids.
 
Saturday marked the final game of Navy's fall 2020 season as the team will now turn its attention to the spring when the Patriot League plans to play its conference schedule. The 2020-21 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament will also be held in the spring.
 
"We really challenged ourselves with these three games [Pitt, at Pitt and at Virginia Tech] this fall," said Gabarra. "We'll be better off moving forward as a result of this set of competition. We're real close to being able to compete with these teams for a complete game, but it's extremely hard to get 90 minutes fit without more game action. The biggest difference is they're playing a regular schedule and we're playing what feels like three separate games with all the time in-between. It's hard to get match fit without regular games; that's were the biggest difference between us and the ACC teams we've played this fall.
 
"At the end of the day, we're extremely grateful to the Naval Academy and the NAAA for giving us the opportunity to play these games. Our program is better for being given this chance. In a normal fall, we're with Pitt and Virginia Tech in those games for all 90 minutes. The spring is going to be great. We have a lot of motivated young players and strong upperclass leadership so that should bode for strong results."