ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's soccer team concluded its regular season on Friday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility with a hard fought 1-1 draw versus Patriot League South divisional foe American University. The Mids (3-4-1, 3-1-1 PL, 3-0-1 PL South) struck early with a Victoria Tran (Jr., Clarksville, Md.) goal 26 seconds into the contest before the Eagles (0-4-1, 0-4-1 PL, 0-3-1 PL South) responded in the 16th minute. Over the next 94 minutes, the teams battled through competitive goal-less play as the game went final with the score 1-1.
 
Navy came into Friday night's game with the Patriot League South divisional title wrapped up and hosting responsibilities set for one of Patriot League Tournament semifinals on Wednesday.
 
"It wasn't our best soccer tonight, but we continued to fight," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "American exposed us in certain ways, that we haven't been exposed this year. We have some work to do to solve some of that and to get back into our rhythm of soccer. We weren't really playing the style and pace tonight that we like to normally. The next game is the playoffs, so we have to start playing our brand.
 
"We weren't in sync tonight. American did a really good job of recovering and getting numbers behind on the ball. We were impatient and not really picking our best options on offense. We were shooting when we should've been passing and passing when we should've been shooting. We just weren't in sync with the way we like to play. We just need to take some time to relax and have some good training sessions this week."
 
The action on Friday started off at a historically fast pace as the Mids jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 26 seconds into the game when Chloe Dawson (Fr., Fairfax, Va.) lofted a lead pass into the box to a sprinting Tran, who one-timed a shot off the volley to the far side of the goal past the outstretched arms of the Eagles' goalkeeper Ryleigh Brown. That goal set the program record for the fastest goal to start a game, the previous mark was held by Katie Eames, who scored 39 seconds into Navy's match at Seton Hall on Sept. 19, 2004.
 
The game didn't stay at that 1-0 margin for long as American recorded the next shot on goal and found the back of the net as Emily Smith found Olivia Mahony for the tying score at 15:33.
 
Neither team amounted many effective scoring chances over the next 20 minutes with each side record just one shot a piece.
 
Sophie Ewing (Fr., Salt Lake City, Utah) turned into an instant offensive option for Navy off the bench as within the first 10 minutes of her entering the game, she was a part of two high-percentage scoring chances. In the 36th minute, she received a cross from Molly Gillcrist (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) and snapped off a shot that just missed wide left before coming back five minutes later and putting a one-time shot on frame after Kat Healey (Fr., King George, Va.) found her in the six-yard box.
 
After recording only four shots in the first half, Navy turned up its offensive vigor in the second 45-minute stanza. Within the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Mids had tallied five shots, including a Katie Herrmann (Fr., Charlotte, N.C.) header attempt on goal at the end of a Sadie McCaleb (So., Loganton, Pa.) corner kick in the 60th minute.
 
The fast and furious action in the Mids' offensive third continued as the hosts were in constant search of a go-ahead goal in the second half. During a 33-second span of play in the 67th minute both Tran and Kristina Dzhandzhapanyan (Sr., Diamond Bar, Calif.) put shots on goal only to see Brown turn them away.
 
With under five minutes of regulation play left, Jenna Daunt (Fr., Haymarket, Va.) recorded the Navy's final shot on goal as she pulled down a bounding ball and ripped a low shot towards the target forcing a diving save from Brown.
 
Still tied at 1-1 through 90 minutes of action, the Mids kept up their eyes on the goal and recorded a pair of quality looks at goal from Tran in the first overtime period. The junior midfielder had her first shot blocked in the 94th minute before coming back on the ensuing corner kick and squaring up a shot on goal.
 
In the second overtime period, each team tallied one shot. The Eagles' one attempt in the 106th minute was especially dangerous as Toni Williams received a lead pass into the box and went one-on-one with Mattie Gallagher (Fr., Gilbertsville, Pa.), who sprawled out and made a diving save to push the shot wide of the goal. That save closed the contest as the game went final tied at 1-1.
 
For the contest, Navy outshot American, 19-7 with a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal. In terms of corner kicks, the Mids held a 5-1 margin in the final box score.
 
Navy will continue its 2020-21 season on Wednesday, April 14 as it will host a Patriot League Semifinal tilt with Loyola. The top-seed in the Patriot League South division, the Mids will go head-to-head with the Greyhounds (2-1-1 PL South) in a contest that starts at 6 p.m. On the other side of the playoff bracket, Boston University (2-1-1 PL North) will host Colgate (2-2 PL North) at 7 p.m. The victors of those respective semifinals will meet on Saturday, April 17.
 
"We've fought really hard this year and have played a lot of games within a short span of time," said Gabarra in closing. "We've earned the right to play at home in the playoffs and I'm proud of the team for that. We need to capitalize on that home field advantage. We get a lot of support from our home crowd and our players like playing here. We always fight hard at home. We've got to make the most out of that home experience. Loyola is very, very organized and very sound defensively. We'll have to find a way to break them down defensively."