ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In Navy's second game of the 2021 season, the fans at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility were treated to a contest filled with explosive offensive moments and action that quickly flowed from end-to-end. After 90 minutes of regulation competition and two more thrilling sudden victory overtime periods, the Mids (1-0-1) and Colonials of George Washington University (0-1-1) walked off the field with a hard-fought 2-2 draw. The teams combined for four first-half goals and 40 overall shots with 17 attempts on target in Sunday's non-conference matchup.
 
Katie Herrmann (So., Charlotte, N.C.) and Rylee Rives (Fr., Arlington, Texas) tallied the goals for Navy, while Sadie McCaleb (Jr., Loganton, Pa.) was credited with assists on both scores.
 
"That was an exciting game," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "GW is a very good team, that has had a lot of success over the past few years. We have a lot of respect for them. Our players showed great fitness and heart throughout all 110 minutes. You don't always see the fitness part of that equation early in the season; we did the work today, but just didn't execute. We just need to fine-tune the smaller things, like being better in the box; we're generating chances, but not putting them away and vice-versa we need to be better in our own box defensively because we're giving away chances that we don't characteristically give away."
 
The action on Sunday started at a breakneck pace as the teams combined for four shots in the opening eight minutes, including a Molly Gillcrist (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) shot on goal. The visiting Colonials made sure the game's fifth attempt left its mark as Kelly Amador deposited a Maria Pareja cross into the back of the net at 10:20.
 
Down 1-0, the Mids' eyes were focused on drawing the score even as they recorded two more shots in the ensuing seven minutes of play. Navy's pressure eventually paid off in a quick series of plays and the game-tying goal. The sequence began when Carolyn Mang (Sr., Forest Hill, Md.) found Alexa Riddle (Fr., Tomball, Texas) in stride as the freshman forward dribbled towards goal only to have G.W.'s goalkeeper Tamaki Machi leap off her line and slide at Riddle, knocking the ball away before Riddle could get a shot off. The subsequent corner kick piece consisted of a well-struck kick from McCaleb and a leaping header shot by Herrmann into the upper-90 at the 27:11 mark of the first half.
 
The game didn't stay at that 1-1 score for long as George Washington pulled back ahead less than five minutes later when the Colonials tied together a crisp string of passes from Amador and Sophia Danyko-Kulchycky to the waiting Sammy Neyman, who one-timed a shot for a goal at 32:07.
 
The back-and-forth action continued as Navy nearly evened the match in the 37th minute when Tori Liesen (Fr., Hudson, Ohio) ripped a shot towards the goal that beat Machi, but rang off the crossbar and one-hopped to Rives, who headed the ball into Machi's hands. Rives got her chance at redemption a few minutes later when she was on the receiving end of a McCaleb throw-in into the box. The freshman tracked the throw-in through the air and swiftly connected with a volley that lofted the ball over Machi and into the back of the net.
 
In the action-packed first half, the teams combined for 15 shots, eight for Navy and seven for G.W.
 
Coming out of the halftime intermission with the score knotted at 2-2, both teams were on the hunt for that go-ahead third goal. In a mixture of strong goalkeeping and unlucky bounces off the posts, neither the Mids or Colonials were able to pull ahead in the second half. Navy tested Machi early with two shots on goal in the opening three minutes, but to no avail. Mattie Gallagher (So., Gilbertsville, Pa.) came through with a pair of saves in the second half as she turned aside a Pareja shot in the 56th minute and an Alicia Window shot in the 90th. Navy's battle with the goal structure didn't end with Liesen's shot in the first half, as Caitlin Doran (Jr., Queens, N.Y.) whipped a deep, looping cross that cleared Machi, but ricocheted off the back post in the 81st minute. Eight minutes later, Riddle was robbed by the near post when her attempt bounced away wide.
 
In just the second game of the season for either team, the energy levels for both Navy and George Washington kept up throughout regulation and into overtime. Tied 2-2, the back-and-forth offensive-heavy action resulted in 12 combined shots over the 20 minutes of golden goal extra time. In the first overtime period, Victoria Tran (Sr., Clarksville, Md.) and Riddle registered shots, while the Colonials responded with three shots of their own. In the second overtime stanza, the teams continued searching for the game-winning goal. G.W. wasted little time as Pareja ripped a line drive shot on goal from outside the 18-yard box that required Gallagher to jump up and punch the ball over the crossbar just 32 seconds into the second overtime period. When the ball was back in Navy's offensive zone, Doran and Tran had strong looks at the goal, though both were denied by Machi.
 
With no teams able to score in overtime the game went final with the final score, 2-2. Overall, Navy outshot George Washington, 23-17 with a 10-7 edge in shots on goal over 110 minutes of play.
 
Gallagher finished with five saves in goal for the Mids.
 
"It's still early in the season and we're learning about our strengths and weaknesses and what systems work better for some of our personnel," said Gabarra. "I really liked our energy and our commitment to play, I like our mentality. We learned a lot about ourselves this opening weekend. We'll sit down this week, watch some video and work on transitioning our practice efforts into game action. When we play more and do more training for situations in the box, we'll do better in those big moments. We're still a work in progress, but I like that our younger players are stepping up and our older players are providing strong leadership. We just need to put the little pieces together and be more composed when we have high percentage chances."
 
Navy closed its opening homestand with a 1-0-1 record after defeating Loyola Marymount on Thursday evening. The Mids will now head out on a four-game road trip. First up is a Thursday night road game at Towson before travelling to College Park for a Sunday afternoon tilt at the University of Maryland.
 
"We pride ourselves on playing well at Glenn Warner and winning on our home field in front of our home fans so today's result will hurt a little bit, but we have a lot of things to take from today's game that we can build upon moving forward," concluded Gabarra.