ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy men's soccer (4-1-0, 3-1-0 Patriot League, 2-1-0 PL South Division) suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday night after dropping a 2-0 decision against Loyola (2-1-1, 2-1-1 Patriot League, 2-1-0 PL South Division) at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
 
Following Wednesday's result, Navy is now tied with Loyola and American for the top spot in Patriot League South Division. The Midshipmen face American on Saturday afternoon with the winner securing a spot in the Patriot League Tournament.
 
"It was a disappointing performance. Loyola scored early and we chased the game," head coach Tim O'Donohue said. "Loyola is a good team, they certainly deserved to win. They took their chances and we were not taking our chances well enough. We created some opportunities but we need to do a better job of finishing our chances.
 
"Saturday is a win or we are out situation, so it is a good opportunity for the team to be resilient, get ready and come back. It was not our day. We played well at times, but we were out of sync today and we could not find our rhythm. We have to come back with good practices on Thursday and Friday to get ready for Saturday."
 
Navy started the game with early offensive pressure and tried to stretch the Loyola backline, but the Midshipmen were called offside twice in the first five minutes of play. Navy had the first shot of the game as with Joe Alex's (Jr., Lockport, N.Y.) corner kick in the 11th minute finding Tyler Collins (Jr., Crofton, Md.) at the back post, but Collins' header sailed high.
 
In the 15th minute, the Greyhounds found some space in the 18-yard box where Albert Kang's shot snuck underneath the crossbar and Loyola took the 1-0 lead. The Midshipmen got back on the attack looking for the game-tying goal and Alex had Navy's best scoring chance of the first half with his left-footed shot hitting off the hands of Chase Vosvick in the Loyola goal and the ball bounced toward the goal, but it hit the crossbar and Vosvick kept the ball out of the net to keep the Greyhounds ahead by a goal.
 
The Midshipmen kept the pressure on Loyola with five total shots in the first 45 minutes with two shots on goal, but the Greyhounds held the 1-0 advantage at the half.
 
In the second half, Navy registered five more shots but only one was on target as Wyatt Millard (Sr., Columbia, S.C.) had a run on the left wing, but his shot was stopped by Vosvick in goal.
 
Loyola added its insurance goal in the 79th minute after a foul in the penalty area gave the Greyhounds a penalty kick. Justin Ingram took the shot for Loyola and he placed his shot just past the diving Ian Bramblett (Sr., Easley S.C.) to secure the 2-0 victory for the Greyhounds.
 
Navy outshot Loyola 10-9 for the match, but the Greyhounds had four shots on goal compared to the Midshipmen's three. Bramblett also finished with two save on the night and the Midshipmen had the only two corner kicks of the match.
 
Navy is back in action on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. against American in Washington, D.C. where the winner secures a spot in the Patriot League Tournament.