ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A busy week of action lies ahead for the Navy women's soccer team as the Mids play a pair of Patriot League games over a four-day span. First up for Navy is a Wednesday night matchup versus American in Annapolis at 7 p.m. contest. Coming off of a hard-fought road loss at Lehigh last Friday, the Mids (5-5-3, 2-3 PL) will be looking to getting back in the win-column as they welcome a Eagles (1-4-6, 0-3-2 PL) squad that is on the hunt for its first league win of the 2022 season. Following Wednesday's contest at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, Navy will have a quick turnaround with the 2022 Star Game versus Army on Saturday night in West Point.

The Navy-American game will have live stats provided online, as well as be broadcast on the ESPN+ platform. ESPN+ is a subscription-based streaming service that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest.

Scouting the Competition
American
The Eagles come into Wednesday's game with a 1-4-6 record with victories over USF (Aug. 25, 1-0) ... Among American's plethora of ties are draws against Holy Cross (Sept. 17, 1-1) and Lafayette (Sept. 25, 2-2) in conference play ... All three of the Eagles' Patriot League losses have been by one goal with all three scores coming in the final 35 minutes of action in the second half ... A defensive-minded team, American has been shutout in six of its 11 contests, including a pair of scoreless ties versus George Washington (Aug. 31) and at William & Mary (Sept. 4) ... Last time out, the Eagles dropped a 1-0 decision at home against the Boston Terriers. Tied 0-0 at half, the visiting Terriers netted the go-ahead goal in the 59th minute and held on for the one-goal victory. Defense ruled the contest as the teams combined for just 12 total shots and four shots on goal; 8-4 total shots and 3-1 shots on goal, both in BU's favor ... The Eagles were picked ninth out of 10 teams in the Patriot League's preseason coaches poll with 38 voting points.

Navy vs. American
Wednesday will be the 31st meeting between the two nearby schools in a series that began on Sept. 7, 1994 ... Navy leads the series 19-7-4 and has outscored American, 59-29 all-time ... Navy is 9-3-2 at home against American ... The Mids and Eagles have gone through large momentum swings throughout this series as Navy won the first four meetings from 1994-1998 before stringing together its current run of 13 games without a loss (12-0-1) from 2011-2021, including two postseason victories during that span ... During this undefeated run for Navy, the Mids have outscored the Eagles, 30-6.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five meetings dating back to 2017, Navy is 4-0-1 and has outscored American, 9-3.
    Oct. 13, 2021 (A): Navy 2 - American 0
    April 9, 2021 (H): Navy 1 - American 1
    Oct. 23, 2019 (A): Navy 1 - American 0
    Sept. 26, 2018 (H): Navy 3 - American 2 (OT)
    Sept. 27, 2017 (A): Navy 2 - American 0

Most Recent Matchup: October 13, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
The Navy women's soccer team continued its winning ways on Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C. as the visiting Mids used a pair of Alexa Riddle goals to defeat the American University Eagles by a score of 2-0 at Reeves Field. The high-scoring freshman put the Mids ahead early as she scored 5:01 into the game before adding a late insurance goal in the 82nd minute. Navy augmented Riddle's offensive fireworks with a staunch defensive effort as American was held to just four total shots.

For the second time in two games, Riddle added her name to the box score within the first six minutes of action as she received a lead pass from Victoria Tran in stride 25 yards out and dribbled around the charging goalkeeper to place a right-footed shot into the back of the net at 5:06. In the Mids' previous game, the freshman forward scored 83 seconds into the contest against Lehigh.

Grasping a 1-0 lead, the Mids' defense held the Eagles without a shot for the opening 20:15 of play. The host American squad had to work for another 10-plus minutes for its first shot on goal of the game. That Asia Horne attempt was handled easily by Navy's Mattie Gallagher to continue her clean sheet effort.

The game went into the halftime intermission with the score 1-0 as Navy held a 6-2 advantage in total shots with 3-1 edge in shots on goal.

The second half of play opened up with more physical and midfield-based activity. The stats illustrated that as Navy took the only shot of the first 30 minutes of the stanza, a Jenna Daunt attempt in the 47th minute.

The final 15 minutes of regulation saw the action open up a bit more as the Mids started peppering the Eagles' goalkeeper Julia Kato regularly with three shots on goal. After Rylee Rives and Jeana Freeman's attempts were saved, the culmination of that run of offense was a Riddle goal at 81:59. Chloe Dawson started the play as she lofted a deep ball from beyond midfield. After the ball deflected off an American defender, Riddle controlled the loose ball, took two dribbles and put a high arching shot into the far upper-90 leaving Kato with no chance for a save.

Down the stretch, Navy withstood American's last attempts to remove the zero from besides its name on the scoreboard. Gallagher protected the shutout with a diving save on a Cailynn Adelman header off of a corner kick in the 87th minute. That save was Gallagher's second of the game.

In the 2-0 victory, the Mids outshot the Eagles, 10-4 with a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal.

Comparing the Teams

2022 Stats	Navy	American
Record	5-5-3	1-4-6
Goals/Gm	1.31	0.64
Assists/Gm	1.54	0.36
Shots/Gm	11.2	7.0
Goals Against Average	0.77	1.10
GK Saves/Gm	4.23	3.82

Individual Leaders

	Navy	American
Goals	3 Players, 2	7 Players, 1
Assists	Graziano, 5	Simmons, 2
Points	Graziano, 7	Simmons, 4
Shots	Riddle, 18	Iluyomade, 13
GK Saves	Gallagher, 55	Kato, 42

Last Time Out: October 7 at Lehigh
In a theme that has shown up throughout the first halfway of the Patriot League schedule for the Navy women's soccer team, second-half goals played a deciding factor in the Mids' 2-0 lost to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Friday. Tied 0-0 through 78 minutes, the Mountain Hawks (5-5-1, 3-2 PL) netted a pair of goals in the final 12 minutes to knock off the Midshipmen (5-5-3, 2-3 PL) at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
 
Of the 11 combined goals scored by Navy and its opponents over the first five conference games, eight have now occurred in the second half of play with six coming in the final 20 minutes of action.
 
The action in the initial 10 minutes of the first half saw both teams take aim on the goal as Alexa Riddle had the first look in the fifth minute after intercepting a pass deep in Lehigh's defensive third and dribbling around the Mountain Hawks' goalkeeper Maggie Ousouljoglou. With her eye on the goal, Riddle's shot was deflected late by a Lehigh defender and rang off the post. Lehigh's first and only shot on goal of the first half was a Ryelle Shuey header attempt to the back post in the seventh minute. Navy's Mattie Gallagher read the play from the start and easily closed out to the back post for the save.
 
The game continued for 16-plus minutes without a shot before the Mids' plan for a goal were once again foiled by the post as Marlee Heaven flicked a Riddle cross over Ousouljoglou towards the far side of the net, but ricocheted off the post in the 24th minute.
  
Coming out of the locker room at halftime tied 0-0, the Mids immediately began the hunt for the game's first score. The team's second shot in the opening 10 minutes was especially dangerous as Riddle dribbled up the end line and fed Jenna Daunt inside the six-yard box. Daunt quickly met the pass with a one-timer shot that skipped just wide of the net.
 
Mimi Abusham was next up for Navy as she received a chested pass from Caitlin Doran on the outer edge of the 18-yard box, spun her defender and put a well-struck shot towards the lower left corner. Unfortunately for the Mids, Ousouljoglou dove and covered up the shot to keep it a 0-0 game in the 71st minute.
 
Less than eight minutes after that Abusham attempt, the Mountain Hawks recorded their first shot on goal of the half as Mattie Murphy snuck in behind the Mids' back line and flicked in a looping cross to give Lehigh the 1-0 lead at 78:45.
  
With the Mids pressing up in the attacking third looking for a potential game-tying goal, the Mountain Hawks took advantage of that and played an outlet pass ahead to Corinne Lyght, who dribbled in one-on-one and placed a hard-hit shot into the back of the net at 84:33.
 
For the game, both teams were credited with eight shots, though Navy held a slight 4-3 edge in shots on goal. The visitors also posted the same margin in corner kicks over Lehigh, 4-3.

Parking / Shuttle / Ticket Information
Fans are reminded that the general public does not have access to drive their vehicles on to the U.S. Naval Academy. Fans may park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for a fee and take a shuttle that will run every 10 minutes starting one hour before the game and will continue running until one hour after the game is completed. Fans 18 and over need a government-issued photo ID. Enter Gate 5 off Taylor Ave. to park at the stadium. Dogs are not permitted inside the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. All soccer contests at Glenn Warner will be free of charge.