WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy women's soccer team continued its winning ways on Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C. as the visiting Mids used a pair of Alexa Riddle (Fr., Tomball, Texas) goals to defeat the American University Eagles by a score of 2-0 at Reeves Field. The high-scoring freshman put the Mids ahead early as she scored 5:01 into the game before adding a late insurance goal in the 82nd minute. Navy (8-5-2, 3-2-1 PL) augmented Riddle's offensive fireworks with a staunch defensive effort as American (5-7-1, 2-3-1 PL) was held to just four total shots.
 
"I'm really happy with the focus that we showed today," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "It's difficult to play a midweek game on the road in the afternoon as part of a two-game in four-day stretch. Right now, it's one game at a time for us. American is a quality team that is a having a very good season; we needed to have the proper focus to earn this result.
 
"I think we put together 90 good minutes of team soccer. We kept our pressure up throughout most of the game and did a good job of moving the ball. Our midfield led by Victoria Tran and Katie Herrmann stood out for their work in transition and giving us strong looks on offense. Alexa Riddle had two really nice goals and helped give us an important early lead. All six of our backs played very good defense. Add in our midfielders' effort and we did a really good job of team defending. Holding a really good offensive team to two shots on goal is a tremendous feat. We had a lot of players see action today; they really elevated the game, gave us energy and did their jobs very well. It's really coming together for us at this time in the season."
 
For the second time in two games, Riddle added her name to the box score within the first six minutes of action as she received a lead pass from Victoria Tran (Sr., Clarksville, Md.) in stride 25 yards out and dribbled around the charging goalkeeper to place a right-footed shot into the back of the net at 5:06. In the Mids' previous game, the freshman forward scored 83 seconds into the contest against Lehigh.
 
Navy kept up its pressure in the offensive third as Riddle personally added two more shots in the ensuing two-and-a-half minutes, including one attempt on frame.
 
Grasping a 1-0 lead, the Mids' defense held the Eagles without a shot for the opening 20:15 of play. The host American squad had to work for another 10-plus minutes for its first shot on goal of the game. That Asia Horne attempt was handled easily by Navy's Mattie Gallagher (So., Gilbertsville, Pa.) to continue her clean sheet effort.
 
The game went into the halftime intermission with the score 1-0 as Navy held a 6-2 advantage in total shots with 3-1 edge in shots on goal.
 
The second half of play opened up with more physical and midfield-based activity. The stats illustrated that as Navy took the only shot of the first 30 minutes of the stanza, a Jenna Daunt (So., Haymarket, Va.) attempt in the 47th minute.
 
The final 15 minutes of regulation saw the action open up a bit more as the Mids started peppering the Eagles' goalkeeper Julia Kato regularly with three shots on goal. Rylee Rives (Fr., Arlington, Texas) took aim for an insurance goal first as Carolyn Mang (Sr., Forest Hill, Md.) found her in space at the top of 18-yard box and after a few touches she whipped a curling left-footed shot that forced Kato to sprawl out completely horizontal in the 78th minute. Jeana Freeman (Jr., Raleigh, N.C.) was the next Mid to try and put her squad up 2-0 as she spun around her defender and ripped a shot towards the far-side of the net from outside the 18 in the 80th minute.
 
The culmination of that run of offense was a Riddle goal at 81:59. Chloe Dawson (So., Fairfax, Va.) started the play as she lofted a deep ball from beyond midfield. After the ball deflected off an American defender, Riddle controlled the loose ball, took two dribbles and put a high arching shot into the far upper-90 leaving Kato with no chance for a save.
 
Down the stretch, Navy withstood American's last attempts to remove the zero from besides its name on the scoreboard. Gallagher protected the shutout with a diving save on a Cailynn Adelman header off of a corner kick in the 87th minute. That save was Gallagher's second of the game.
 
In the 2-0 victory, the Mids outshot the Eagles, 10-4 with a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal.
 
Navy will have a quick turnaround as it turns its attention to the annual rivalry showdown with Army. The two service academies will vie for supremacy on Saturday night in Annapolis. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.