BALTIMORE, Md. – The Navy men's soccer team opened its 2021 season with a 2-2, double-overtime draw against UMBC Thursday at the Retriever Soccer Park in Baltimore.
The Midshipmen (0-0-1) were led on offense by
David Jackson who tallied a goal and an assist.
Sidney Paris added his first collegiate score while
Jacob Williams recorded six shots, two being on goal.
Matt Nocita and
Baba Kallie each added three shots to round out the top performers on offense for the Mids'.
Senior goalkeeper
Tyler Fahning played all 110 minutes in goal for Navy, facing three shots and picking up one save.
"I think we played really well today," remarked head coach
Tim O'Donohue. "We had some really good possessions and stayed on the attack. I really like what I saw defensively, although it's disappointing not to get the result we wanted.
"We scheduled this game away because UMBC is a great program and we knew it'd be a challenge; this game really showed the quality of our players. Our guys are resilient and we'll be ready to come back Sunday."
The Retriever (0-0-1) attack was paced by Julian Conze and Justin John-Langba who recorded one score apiece in addition Taylor Calheira who added three shots. Goalkeeper Quantrell Jones anchored the UMBC defense, facing seven shots and tallying five saves.
After recording four of the first five shots through the first 27 minutes of play, Navy earned its first scoring opportunity at the 27:47 mark when the Mid's were awarded a rare indirect kick just 18 yards from the goal. After a slight assist from Jackson, Paris buried a shot into the top, right-hand corner of the net, giving the Midshipmen a 1-0 lead.
However, the advantage would be short lived as the Retrievers were awarded a penalty-kick attempt in the 30th minute. Following a Conze conversion, the contest was brought to a 1-1 draw. UMBC went on to hold the Mids' to just three shots, one of which was on target, to maintain the score heading into halftime.
Navy continued to dictate the pace on offense, tallying four of the first five shots coming out of halftime. However, at the 69:34 mark, Langba played a throw-in pass into the box and fired a shot into the back of the net to give UMBC a 2-1 advantage.
Undeterred, the Midshipmen continued to be the aggressors in the second half and in the 88th minute, Jackson was awarded a penalty kick and proceeded to place a shot past Jones for the game-tying goal. Navy recorded one more shot over the final two minutes of regulation, but the attempt by Nocita was blocked, forcing the game into overtime.
While the Midshipmen were only able to record four shots over both overtime periods, they held UMBC to just one shot attempt and a corner kick through the extra stanzas to finish the contest in a 2-2 tie.
As a team, Navy held advantages over UMBC in total shots (22-6), shots on goal (7-3) and corner kicks (7-5).
The Midshipmen continue their non-conference schedule Sunday as they welcome Marist to the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility with opening kick slated for 4 p.m.
