WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy women's soccer team wrapped up the regular season portion of its non-conference schedule with 110 minutes of hard-fought scoreless soccer on Monday night against Howard University. Two nights after defeating their service academy rivals the Army Black Knights, the Mids (9-5-3) exuded the same effort and passion on Monday, though they were unable to solve the Bison (4-5-2) and find the back of the net. The Mids' 0-0 result at Greene Stadium extended their undefeated streak to six straight games.
 
"We had a super hard task tonight trying to recreate the performance from Saturday," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "I was proud of the effort that everyone brought tonight. 22 different players saw action and each one provided us strong minutes. Howard is a quality team that presses you the entire game. They defended us hard all 110 minutes.
 
"Credit to Megan LaMendola on an outstanding performance in goal for us, she did a great job of keeping them scoreless. Our best looks came in the opening 20 minutes, but we lacked a bit in the quality of our finishes and couldn't break through with a goal. That's something we'll continue to work on in training. We have an important road game at Holy Cross coming up on Saturday so we'll have to quickly get back into our Patriot League mindset."
 
The action at Greene Stadium started out fast and furious as the two teams combined for three shots on goal over the opening seven minutes. Jeana Freeman (Jr., Raleigh, N.C.) and Caitlin Doran (Jr., Queens, N.Y.) recorded the Mids' two attempts, while Megan LaMendola (Sr., Springdale, Ark.) turned aside Kyra Bolden's shot on frame for the Bison. The pace of play in the attacking third continued over the next 10 minutes with four more shots, including two more shots on goal by the visiting Mids. After Rylee Rives' (Fr., Arlington, Texas) header attempt off of a corner was pushed just wide left in the 10th minute, the defensive duo of Kassidy Borden (So., Leesburg, Va.) and Chloe Dawson (So., Fairfax, Va.) went back-to-back with deep shots on frame within 90 seconds of each other at 18:25 and 19:50.
 
Navy's last high percentage look at goal came in the 29th minute when Doran received a lead pass and dribbled through Howard's defense going one-on-one with the Bison's goalkeeper Alayah Hightower. Unfortunately for the Mids, Hightower darted off her line and met Doran's shot just after it was released knocking it away from the goal.
 
At the half, Navy was outshooting Howard, 9-7 with a 5-2 edge in shots on goal.
 
After all of the offensive action in the first 45-minute stanza, the script was flipped in the second half and the Bison controlled the majority of the chances as illustrated by a 7-2 advantage in shots, though the hosts only put one of those attempts on goal, a Nyla Allen shot in the 85th minute. Navy's best opportunity to break the scoreless tie came 13 minutes earlier when Alexa Riddle (Fr., Tomball, Texas) found space in the box and got a shot off that was set to beat Howard's goalkeeper, but was deflected late by a Howard defender for a team save in the 72nd minute.
 
The play in the attacking third almost came to a complete halt in the first overtime period as only one shot was recorded, a wide attempt by Riddle in the 99th minute.
 
In the final 10 minutes of golden goal overtime, Navy and Howard desperately searched for the winning tally. Just 31 seconds into the period, Riddle tested Hightower with a shot on goal. The Mids' defense withstood the next series of blows as Navy defenders blocked shots in the 103rd and 109th minute with LaMendola snagging a Thalia Boucher shot in-between in the 107th minute. With under 10 seconds remaining to hang a crocked number on the scoreboard, Victoria Tran (Sr., Clarksville, Md.) and Borden unleashed a pair of shots, but were unable to find the back of the net.
 
In the 0-0 draw, Howard outshot Navy 19-15, though the Mids held an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal.
 
Following Monday night's game, Navy will turn its attention back to Patriot League play as a spot in the postseason lies in the balance with two regular season games remaining. Currently standing fourth in the league table, Navy will play at Holy Cross on Saturday morning with kickoff slated for 11 a.m. in Worcester, Mass.