ANNAPOLIS, Md. – With seeding for the upcoming Patriot League Tournament up for grabs on Wednesday night, the Navy women's soccer team knew that with a win the Mids would clinch bye into the semifinals and potentially lock up the regular season title depending on the outcome of the Boston University-Army matchup. It didn't take long for the home fans at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility to recognize that the Mids (11-5-3, 6-2-1 PL) were on a mission as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Leopards (5-10, 3-6 PL) within the first seven minutes courtesy of a pair of Alexa Riddle (Fr., Tomball, Texas) goals. A Katie Herrmann (So., Charlotte, N.C.) goal in the second half and a late penalty kick conversion by Lafayette sent the game into the record books with a 3-1 final score. With Navy's victory and Boston's 2-1 win at Army, the Terriers held on for the number one seed, while the Mids finished one point back in second place.
 
"We've had a couple of games in a row that we've started really well and tonight was another one," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "We had a lot of energy and were very mobile from the opening whistle. We played two really well-placed balls over the top to Alexa Riddle; Jenna Daunt and Chloe Dawson's passes were right on the money. Alexa has done a really good job this year of capitalizing on her opportunities. That quick start really helped us to settle in.
 
"I thought Jeana Freeman was excellent tonight. She played a different role for us and was very good at it. Our defense was very sound and did a lot of covering for each other. They've been given a game plan and they've been very discipline in following it. Our team defending was very good from the front to the back. We got a lot of players valuable minutes and experience tonight. This was a very good result and we're very pleased to be where we are based on how we started Patriot League play."
 
The action started at a breakneck pace as Riddle put the Mids up 1-0 at 5:01. Starting with a Mattie Gallagher (So., Gilbertsville, Pa.) goal kick, Herrmann chested the ball down to Jenna Daunt (So., Haymarket, Va.) on her right. Without hesitation Daunt one-timed a chip shot over Lafayette's defense and into space for the sprinting Riddle, who went one-on-one for the final 25 yards and calmly slotted a low shot past Lafayette's goalkeeper, Lindsay Dewar.
 
Less than two minutes later, Riddle found herself in a similar position as this time Chloe Dawson (So., Fairfax, Va.) lofted a high arching pass from beyond midfield towards Riddle near the 18. After a slight deflection off a Lafayette defender, Riddle gathered the ball in stride and dribbled into the six-yard box before unleashing a shot into the lower left corner of the goal at 6:50.
 
With the score 2-0 in Navy's favor, Lafayette unsuccessfully tried to draw within one goal in the 12th minute when Riley Dowd put a shot on goal that Gallagher turned aside. That was the Leopards' only shot for the entire first half.
 
The Mids kept their foot on the gas for the rest of the opening stanza with four more shots on goal over the final 25 minutes. Molly Gillcrist's (Sr., San Diego, Calif) attempt in the 32nd minute was a particularly high percentage look as she posted up near the front post and headed on a Caitlin Doran (Jr., Queens, N.Y.) cross, but saw Dewar snag the shot from close range.
 
After 45 minutes of action, Navy was ahead on the scoreboard, 2-0 with a dominant 13-1 advantage in total shots and a 6-1 edge in shots on goal.
 
Coming out of the halftime intermission, the Mids continued pressing for a third goal as Jeana Freeman (Jr., Raleigh, N.C.) and Riddle both recorded shots on goal within the first nine minutes of the second half. Building off of an Amanda Graziano (Fr., Middlebury, Conn.) corner kick in the 52nd minute, Freeman came in possession of the bouncing ball and tried to slide the ball in the near post, but the Leopards' new goalkeeper Natalie Neumann denied the shot. A little over two minutes later Daunt hit Riddle with a lead pass and Riddle charged towards goal taking a shot that zipped past Neumann, but Lafayette defender Chayce Buono cleared the ball away right before it reached the goal line.
 
Navy's third shot on goal of the half resulted in a score as Herrmann gathered a loose ball following a corner kick and slotted a shot through a trio of Lafayette defenders at 58:29.
 
With the game in hand at 3-0, Gallagher helped her side continue its shutout effort with saves in the 60th and 80th minutes.
 
A late penalty kick was awarded to Lafayette in the 86th minute following a handball by Navy. Dowd brought the final score to a 3-1 margin as she converted the penalty kick.
 
For the game, Navy outshot Lafayette, 19-7 with a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal. The Mids' defense didn't allow the Leopards to record a corner kick during Wednesday night's contest.
 
Coming into the game in second place in the Patriot League standings, Navy's victory was mirrored by Boston University as the Terriers finished the regular season in first with 20 points, while the Mids finished with 19. Loyola (18) and Bucknell (17) also won on Wednesday to hold their respective positions of third and fourth place. The final two teams to qualify for the 2021 Patriot League Tournament are Lehigh (13) and Army (11). The tournament begins on Sunday with quarterfinal action between Loyola and Army, and Bucknell and Lehigh. Navy will wait on their official opponent until after Sunday's action. The Mids next scheduled contest is a home semifinal bout on Thursday, November 4 beginning at 6 p.m.
 
Navy concluded its regular season with an undefeated streak of eight games and a 6-0-2 mark during the month of October.
 
"Momentum is huge," said Gabarra in closing. "You want to be good all year, but you also don't want to peak too early, you want to have that come towards the end of the regular season. We've been getting better every game, but we do still have some things to improve on and they all know that. This team hasn't settled for just being good, they want to be better than that. We bought ourselves some extra time with this second seed so we'll focus on fine tuning those areas of our game that we know we can be better at and getting ready for the semifinals."