ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Matt Nocita (Sr., Porter Ranch, Calif.) and
Baba Kallie (So., Coatesville, Pa.) each tallied a score and
Tyler Fahning (Sr., Victoria, Minn.) recorded his fourth career shutout to lead the Navy men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over La Salle Sunday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
With the win, the Mids remain unbeaten through their first four games at 3-0-1 while the Explorers fall to a 1-3-0 mark on the season.
"It wasn't pretty, but good teams win even when they don't play well," said head coach
Tim O'Donohue. "We were missing a couple of guys tonight, so it was a true team effort to pick up this win. We got a great effort in goal from
Tyler Fahning along with some great play from Baba (Kallie). Now we have to recover and look ahead to Friday."
Navy opened the scoring in the 25th minute when
Matt Nocita headed home a free kick from
Sidney Paris (So., Oakville, Ontario, Canada) for his first score of the season, giving the Mids an early 1-0 lead.
Following the score, the Midshipmen defense limited the Explorer attack to just two shots, one being turned away by Nocita as he filled a void left by Fahning in goal to maintain the one-score advantage heading into halftime.
After the break, the Mids added to their lead in the 67th minute when Kallie muscled his way through a pair of La Salle defenders and sent a lined shot into the back of the net, extending the Navy advantage to 2-0.
The goal by Kallie proved to be the game-clinching score, as the Midshipmen backline continued to stifle the La Salle offense, turning away four Explorer shots including a tremendous leaping save by Fahning in the 77th minute to secure the 2-0 victory.
The aforementioned Fahning recorded a career-high seven saves en route to his second shutout effort of the 2021 season.
Navy and La Salle finished the game tied in total shots (13-13) while the Explorers led the way in shots on goal (8-5) and corner kicks (7-5).
The trio of Justin Brunow, Charlie Collins and Junior Nare each tallied two shots to pace the La Salle attack while goalkeeper Mitch Foster yielded two scores while picking up three saves.
The Midshipmen will return to action Friday, September 10 when they travel to take on George Washington in a non-conference match with opening kick set for 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES
•
MIDS REMAIN UNBEATEN – With the win, Navy has now won three-straight games, marking the third-consecutive year that the Mids have gone unbeaten through their first four games of season.
•
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS – Under the direction of O'Donohue (since 2016) the Midshipmen are now 22-15-5 in home games. At the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility this season, Navy has outscored its opponents 5-1 while outshooting its opposition 57-28.
•
MULTI-SCORE AFFAIRS – Over that same span, since 2016, the Mids are 22-3-1 in games when they score two or more goals.
•
CHASING 200 – Following the 2-0 win over La Salle, O'Donohue improves his record as a head coach to 196-60-33, just four wins shy of 200 for his career.
HOW IT HAPPENED
GOAL: Navy 1, La Salle 0: '25 Nocita (Paris)
GOAL: Navy 2, La Salle 0: '67 Kallie (Unassisted)
