ANNAPOLIS, Md. - With the countdown to the end of the regular season clicking away, the Navy women's soccer team will look to carry over its momentum from Saturday night's golden goal victory at Loyola into another Patriot League South divisional road matchup on Wednesday, this time at Bucknell University. In the midst of a run of three games in seven days and four in 13, the Mids (1-4, 1-1 PL, 1-0 PL So.) know that every divisional game is important in earning one of the two Patriot League Tournament spots dedicated to each division. In the current PL South standings four teams have one divisional win a piece. Similar to Navy, Bucknell (1-1-2, 1-1-2, 1-1-1 PL So.) picked up its first win of the season this past weekend as the Bison knocked off American, 1-0 over the weekend. Wednesday's action at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium is set for 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Attendance Policy for Wednesday
Bucknell has a limited fan attendance policy currently in-place. Only four family members of each Bucknell student-athlete is allowed to attend outdoor sporting events; no Navy family or fans will be admitted with this policy ... Further information is available here.

Navy vs. Bucknell
Wednesday will be the 32nd meeting (18-11-2) between the two schools in a series that began in Navy's second year of varsity existence in 1994 ... In that Oct. 22, 1994 matchup, the Mids earned a 2-1 victory over the Bison ... Since that initial contest, the series has gone in multi-year waves numerous times ... From 1995 through 1999, Navy went 4-0-1 before the programs split six games between 2002 and 2007 with Navy winning the first three and Bucknell the later three ... More recently, the Mids won four straight from 2011 to 2014 before going 1-3-1 from 2015 to 2017 and then winning two straight ... All-time, Navy has outscored Bucknell, 49-31 and is 10-3-1 in games played in Lewisburg.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five matchups dating back to 2016, the Mids are 3-2-0 with a 9-6 advantage in scoring over that span.
    Oct. 19, 2019 (H): Navy 1 - Bucknell 0, overtime
    Oct. 26, 2018 (A): Navy 3 - Bucknell 0
    Nov. 5, 2017 (H): Bucknell 3 - Navy 2 (Patriot League Finals)
    Oct. 28, 2017 (H): Navy 2 - Bucknell 1
    Oct. 8, 2016 (H): Bucknell 2 - Navy 1, 1ot

Most Recent Matchup: Oct. 19, 2019 in Annapolis
The Navy women's soccer team dominated Bucknell in all facets of the game on October 19, 2019, but a multitude of unlucky bounces and clutch saves forced the Mids to take their fight versus the Bison into overtime. The contest between the top-two teams in the Patriot League was decided in the 96th minute when Carolyn Mang headed home a Baseley McClaskey corner kick on the Mids' 26th shot of the day to earn the 1-0 victory. Coming into Saturday ranked second in the conference, the Bison recorded five saves and saw three Midshipmen shots clank off either the post or crossbar throughout the game.

The hectic pacing of the last 10-plus minutes of the first half had its exclamation mark in a six-second span from 42:13 through 42:19. With pinball-like precision, a loose ball in Bucknell's box saw Gabby Gordon's strike hit the post before deflecting out to Cadie Higginson for a shot on goal that bounced away from Donnelly to a waiting Jackson, who's shot rang off the crossbar. At the end of an exciting, but frustrating opening 45 minutes for Navy, the scoreboard showed a 0-0 score, though the Mids held a substantial 11-3 advantage in shots and 3-0 margin in shots on goal.

In a competitiveness that Coach Gabarra would praise postgame, Navy came out of halftime unfazed and motivated to continue its hunt for the first goal of the contest. They did just that as the Mids unleashed another 12 shots in the second half. After Sydney Fortson turned aside Bucknell's only shot on goal of the game, an Abby Gearhart attempt in the 48th minute, it was all Navy.

Less than five minutes later, Navy's arch-nemesis, the post, made another appearance as Sadie McCaleb squared up a shot towards goal only to see her attempt deflect off the iron. Jackson quickly recovered the loose ball, but as she released her shot it was blocked by a Bucknell defender. The final 25 minutes consisted of more of the same, near misses by the Mids and tight defending by the Bison that helped the visitors survive and force overtime. En total, Navy outshot Bucknell 7-2 during this span of play.

Still knotted at 0-0 through the end of regulation, the Mids knew that as long as they kept the pressure on the Bison, good things were likely in their future. That drive and intensity finally paid off and left the hometown fans leaving happy 5:48 into the first overtime period. After earning their eighth corner kick of the game, McClaskey lofted a well-placed cross into the six-yard box where Mang leapt to meet the ball and power a header to the far side of the gaping net with no Bucknell defenders in sight. That final shot was Navy's 26th of the day.

Comparing the Teams

Last Time Out: March 27 at Loyola
Playing its first game in a month, the Navy women's soccer team came away with an important Patriot League South divisional win over Loyola courtesy of an overtime golden goal from Caitlin Doran on Saturday night. Scoreless through 90 minutes of regulation action, the Mids (1-4, 1-1 PL, 1-0 PL So.) and Greyhounds (2-1, 2-1 PL, 1-1 PL So.) found themselves in overtime, a place that they went to in each of their two meetings in 2019. In extra time, Doran flicked on a free kick from Avery Fries over Loyola's goalkeeper, who had left her line to challenge the cross, to earn the walk-off sudden victory after 93:31 of action at the Ridley Athletic Complex.

Coming off a 21-day period of ROM (restriction of movement) mandate for all members of the Naval Academy, the Mids, who started practice on Monday, had a slow ramp up into game action over the opening 45 minutes on Saturday night. As a team, the visitors were only able to muster two total shots in the first half.

The first officially credited shot on goal of the game came in the 63rd minute when Loyola's Sarah Bayer took an off-balanced shot near the six-yard box that Gallagher saved with ease. The visitors registered their first shot on target in the 78th minute courtesy of Jenna Daunt. The freshman forward received a crisp pass to her feet from Katie Herrmann and quickly turned her body towards goal, unleashing a shot on frame that was met by Loyola's keeper, Paige Sim.

As 90 minutes wasn't enough time to decide a victor, the teams turned their attention to sudden victory overtime. Navy had the first quality look at ending it in the 92nd minute as Carolyn Mang soared above a crowd of bodies deep in the box and snapped a header that found Sim's hands on the goal line.

Just two minutes later, Doran found success with her header attempt as she met Fries' free kick approximately 12 yards out and looped the ball over Sim, who had charged off her line to jump at the incoming free kick. The goal was the second of Doran's young career as she scored against Pitt in Navy's abbreviated fall non-conference schedule in 2020.