ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In the opening game of the 2021 portion of Navy's two-part 2020-21 season, the Mids went step for step with the Colgate Raiders and deep into double overtime in a matchup of two of the top-three teams in the 2021 Patriot League Preseason Poll. In an unfortunate conclusion for the host Midshipmen (0-4, 0-1 PL), a corner kick and header in the 110th minute gave the Raiders (1-0, 1-0 PL) the walk-off 2-1 victory.
 
In a contest plagued by heavy, constant rain and standing water throughout the field at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, Victoria Tran (Jr., Clarksville, Md.) sparked Navy's early game offensive theatrics with a goal in the 28th minute off of a build from the wings by Molly Gillcrist (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) and Kristina Dzhandzhapanyan (Sr., Diamond Bar, Calif.). In her first Patriot League start, goalie Mattie Gallagher (Fr., Gilbertsville, Pa.) turned aside five Raider shots on goal.
 
"The story of today's game was shots on goal and making them count," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "We generated 10 corners so we had good attacking, we had good energy and a good fighting mentality throughout the game. I think our experience with water, playing through it and not letting it affect what we were trying to do was pretty good today. We just needed to be more crisp when we attacked the net; we needed to execute in the big moments and definitely generate more than three shots on goal.
 
"The field conditions weren't good, but we wanted this game and were excited to play. I thought we adjusted well to the elements. It definitely got worse as the game progressed. It wasn't pretty soccer because you couldn't connect passes. Some of our adjustments were effective, but we just needed to do more with our chances and with our attacks in generating quality looks."
 
Before the rain really started to affect the playing conditions, Navy was extremely active on the offensive end during the first 17 minutes as it was credited with five shots and a corner kick. In the fifth minute, the Mids' first quality scoring opportunity came courtesy of a foul call from just outside the goal box and a strong shot by Emily Keast (Sr., Springfield, Va.), who's attempt was deflected away from the goal by Colgate's wall.
 
After that opening rush by the Mids, the Raiders made their first shot on goal count as Emily Amano slotted a ball to Adrienne Vaughn, who found the back of the net with low shot from 16 yards out at 19:45.
 
Down 1-0, Navy didn't let that deficit linger for long as less than eight minutes later, Tran netted the equalizer for the home squad as she was on the receiving end of lay-off by Dzhandzhapanyan, who got a pass into the center of the box from Gillcrist on the left wing. The quick series of passes tied the score at 1-1 at 27:42.
 
Colgate looked to re-insert itself back into the lead over the closing 17-plus minutes of action in the first half with a trio of scoring opportunities that were thwarted by Navy defenders. Kaitlynn Johns (So., Austin, Texas) eliminated the Raiders' first chance with a sliding tackle through a puddle to push the ball away from Vaughn deep in Navy's territory. Gallagher also made a pair of saves on shots by Sage DiGiulio and Mia Ciardiello.
 
In the 1-1 first half tie, Navy outshot Colgate, 10-4, though the Raiders put three shots on goal versus just one for the Mids.
 
Navy's second shot on goal came in the 54th minute when Dzhandzhapanyan slipped a pass between a pair of defenders towards goal and an on-coming Carolyn Mang (Jr., Forest Hill, Md.). Mang caught the ball in stride and deflected it towards net only to have Colgate's goalkeeper Sophia Boggs making the sliding save. The Mids kept the pressure in the Raiders' final third as they earned four corner kicks in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
 
Colgate's best scoring opportunity came in the 75th minute when it drew a foul 25 yards from goal. Lining up over the ball Ruby Diodati ripped the direct shot on frame only to find a prepared Gallagher waiting on the goal line to make the save for Navy.
 
A similar series of plays unfolded 10 minutes later for the Mids as Keast lined up the free kick and lofted the ball towards the goal where a leaping Gillcrist flicked a header that sailed just high keeping the score at 1-1.
 
After 90 minutes of regulation competition, the game was still knotted and the two sides moved into overtime. The first period of extra time was controlled by Navy throughout as the Mids earned the only corner kick and shots (2) of the stanza for either team. In the second 10-minute period of water-logged sudden victory action opened up a bit as Colgate tested Gallagher when Ciardiello put a well-placed shot on goal that required the freshman keeper to make a diving save in the 103th minute. A little less than two minutes later, Sophie Ewing (Fr., Salt Lake City, Utah) whipped a cross from the right wing into Keast, who found open space and a few moments to square up a shot on goal that forced Boggs to spring off her line and push the attempt wide of the frame.
 
This led up to the contest's finale when Diodati took a corner kick and sent it into a cluttered box where Hannah Pinkus headed home the game-winning walkoff goal with just 17 seconds left in the second overtime period at 109:43.
 
For the game, Navy outshot Colgate, 19-10, though the Raiders had a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Mids also held a significant 10-2 margin in total corner kicks.

"We will discuss our weaknesses and things that we can do better looking back at this game," said Gabarra. "I'm not sure that any other team is going to take much from watching this game, though because of the playing conditions. Colgate is a quality, athletic team. We got experience from playing, but we also get the sting of losing late in a game and that's something we don't do very often."   
 
Navy is scheduled to continue Patriot League play next Saturday with road tilt at Loyola. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. at the Ridley Athletic Complex.