ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy men's soccer (4-1-0, 3-1-0 Patriot League, 2-1-0 PL South Division) concludes its regular season on Saturday as it travels to American (2-1-1, 2-1-1 Patriot League, 2-1-0 PL South Division) for a 3 p.m. kickoff in Washington, D.C. Navy and American are tied with Loyola atop the South Division standings as each team has six points in the division heading into the final day of the regular season. The winner of Saturday's Navy-American match secures a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. No fans are permitted to attend the match at American.
Navy can secure the No. 1 seed in the South Division and a home semifinal match with a win at American and a Loyola loss or draw against Bucknell. The Midshipmen can also earn a spot in the tournament with a tie and a Loyola loss.
The Midshipmen come into the weekend following its first loss of the season to Loyola in a 2-0 decision on Wednesday night. Navy outshot the Greyhounds 10-9 for the match, but Loyola scored one goal in each half to edge out the Midshipmen.
David Jackson has paced the Navy offense this season with two goals and two assists for a team-best six points. Jackson – who was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week earlier this week – also ranks second in the league in goals, assists and points. Five different Midshipmen have scored a goal this season and seven different players have registered a point.
Ian Bramblett has started all five games for Navy during the season and he has recorded 11 saves and allowed just four goals for a 0.80 goals-against average and a .733 save percentage. Bramblett ranks fifth in school history with 13 career shutouts including two this spring while ranking fourth with a 0.95 career goals-against average.
American comes into the weekend after back-to-back contests against Loyola. In the first meeting, that went toward the division standings, the Eagles grabbed a 2-1 overtime win on the road and in the home match against the Greyhounds, American played to a 1-1 draw. The pair of David Coly and Kyle Hellmann has each scored two goals for four of the team's six tallies on the spring. On the six goals this season, the Eagles have six different players with a point and four different goal scorers.
In goal, Jake Agnew and Lorenzo Gordon have split time for American to combine for a 0.93 goals-against average. Gordon leads the pair with seven saves, a 0.44 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage.
In the all-time series between Navy and American, the Eagles hold a narrow 13-11-8 edge, but the last meeting went to the Midshipmen as Navy grabbed a 4-0 road win during the 2019 season. During the meeting in 2019,
Jacob Williams finished with a five-point game with two goals and an assist for the Midshipmen.
The Patriot League Tournament begins on Tuesday, April 13 with the No. 1 seed in both the North and South Divisions hosting the semifinals matches, and the championship match is slated for Saturday, April 17.
