ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The 2022 Women's Soccer Star will be on the line this Saturday night at West Point when the Army Black Knights host the Navy Midshipmen. In a matchup that's been circled on the calendar as soon as the Patriot League produced its conference schedule, the Mids (6-5-3, 3-3 PL) will be going head-to-head with a Black Knight (6-4-5, 4-1-1 PL) squad with the Army-Navy Women's Soccer Trophy and important real estate in the Patriot League standings on the line. With just three conference games remaining, both teams are currently in the top-six of the league table with Army in tied for second with 13 points, while Navy is sixth with nine points. The action at Malek Stadium at Clinton Field on the post of the United States Military Academy is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Saturday night.

The Navy-Army contest 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.

The women's soccer game is one of three star contests on Saturday as the men's and women's cross country teams will go to head-to-head in Annapolis earlier in the day. All of these competitions are part of the 2022 Star Series presented by USAA. Through four competitions so far this fall, Army holds a 3-1 edge in the rivalry.

Scouting the Competition
Army
The Black Knights come into Saturday's game with a 6-4-5 record and 4-1-1 mark in Patriot League play ... Among Army's plethora of ties are draws versus UConn (Aug. 18, 1-1), at #25 Samford (Sept. 1, 1-1) and at Boston College (Sept. 11, 2-2) ... All six of the Black Knights' conference outcomes have been one-goal or tighter decisions as they've defeated Lehigh, Holy Cross, American and Lafayette all by 1-0 scores, tied Loyola 1-1 and fell to Colgate by a 1-0 score ... Last time out, Army knocked off Lafayette on Wednesday night at home on the strength of Emma Richey's goal in the 37th minute. The Black Knights were in control throughout the contest and out-shot the Leopards, 21-2 with a 6-0 advantage in shots on goal ... Army was picked fifth out of 10 teams in the Patriot League's preseason coaches poll with 92 voting points.

Navy vs. Army
Saturday will be the 35th meeting between the two schools in a series that began in Navy's second year of varsity existence in 1994 ... Over the first 34 matchups, Navy is 18-12-4 versus Army ... Starting on Sept. 20, 1994 and going through Nov. 8, 1997, Army took the first five games of the series ... Games six through 11 went the way of Mids from Oct. 30, 1998 through Oct. 26, 2001 ... Most recently, Navy has gone 4-1-1 over the past six matchups ... The teams did not meet during the 2020-21 season due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic ... The Mids' senior class of 2023 has secured two Star wins (Sept. 27, 2019: 1-0 and Oct. 16, 2021: 3-1), as well as a Patriot League Championship Final victory over the Black Knights (Nov. 11, 2019: 2-1) ... All-time, Navy has outscored Army, 44-28 ... In games played at West Point, the series is deadlocked 5-5-4 with an even 1-1-2 breakdown over the past four matchups at Malek Stadium; Navy earn a 1-0 victory over Army the last times these teams met in Navy during the 2019 regular season ... In dedicated Star matchups, Navy is 15-8-4 over Army.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five meetings dating back to 2018, the Mids are 4-1 and have outscored the Black Knights, 8-4.
    Oct. 16, 2021 (H): Navy 3 - Army 1
    Nov. 11, 2019 (H): Navy 2 - Army 1 (Patriot League Championship)
    Sept. 27, 2019 (A): Navy 1 - Army 0
    Oct. 30, 2018 (H): Army 1 - Navy 0 2OT (Patriot League Quarterfinals) 
    Oct. 12, 2018 (H): Navy 2 - Army 1

Most Recent Matchup: October 16, 2021 in Annapolis
The Navy women's soccer team turned a dynamic well-rounded performance on Saturday night as the Midshipmen dominated their service academy rival, the Army Black Knights, in the schools' annual Star Match by a score of 3-1. Playing in front of a loud and passionate home crowd at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, the Mids received goals from a trio of talented underclassmen as Alexa Riddle led off the scoring in the first half before Amanda Graziano and Katie Herrmann added markers in the second half to allow the hosts to knock off the Black Knights.
  
Dealing with occasional bouts of heavy rain during the first half and gusty winds throughout the contest, the host Mids started the action out fast as Jenna Daunt and Riddle tested the Black Knights' goalkeeper Sage Strohman with shots on goal in the opening 10 minutes of the game. To the delight of the Mids' home crowd, Navy's third shot on goal found the back of the net as Riddle received a pass from Carolyn Mang and sprinted up the right wing before ripping a shot from the just inside the 18-yard box up into the far side upper-90 at 14:03.
  
Gallagher helped her squad take a one-goal advantage into the halftime intermission as she gathered each of the Black Knights' next two shots on goal in the ensuing 30-plus minutes. As a team, Army held an 8-6 margin in total shots for the first half.
 
Coming out of the locker room up 1-0, Navy immediately went to work looking for an insurance goal. Victoria Tran had the first high leverage scoring opportunity for the Mids as she dribbled through the midfield, cut around a pair of Black Knight defenders and took aim on net though her shot was deflected wide of the target. On the subsequent corner kick, Graziano took advantage of the heavy wind and curled her kick over Strohman and into the far side-netting at 54:51.
 
Up 2-0, Navy quickly made it 3-0 as less than three minutes later at 57:21 when Jeana Freeman sent a cross into the box from the left wing and Daunt flicked a header on further towards goal where Herrmann sprinted onto the bouncing ball and one-timed a shot past Strohman.
  
Army finally got on the scoreboard at 70:49 when Trinity Garay gathered a rebound of a Kaelan Bradley shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and put the comebacker into the back of the net. The game stayed at that 3-1 margin for the final 19-plus minutes as Navy celebrated its third straight Star Game victory over Army and 15th all-time in 27 Star Game tilts.
 
For the contest, Navy outshot Army, 13-12 as both teams recorded five shots on goal. Gallagher finished with four saves in goal for the Mids.

Comparing the Teams

2022 Stats	Navy	Army
Record	6-5-3	6-4-5
Goals/Gm	1.29	1.27
Assists/Gm	1.50	0.93
Shots/Gm	11.3	15.0
Goals Against Average	0.71	0.87
GK Saves/Gm	4.50	3.27

Individual Leaders

	Navy	Army
Goals	Daunt, 3	Murray, 4
Assists	Graziano, 5	Bradley/Murray, 3
Points	Graziano, 7	Murray, 11
Shots	Riddle, 19	Murray, 31
GK Saves	Gallagher, 63	Strohman, 46

Last Time Out: October 12 vs. American
Playing the first of two important Patriot League games in a span of four days, the Navy women's soccer team came out on Wednesday night with a spirited 90-minute battle against American. Close and competitive throughout, a slick re-direct goal by Jenna Daunt off of a Mimi Abusham assist in the 64th minute stood up as the game-winner in the Mids' 1-0 victory over the Eagles in the contest at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
 
Mattie Gallagher was a standout in goal for Navy in the matchup as the junior goalkeeper turned aside eight American shots on goal, including three in the final five minutes of the contest.

A game American squad came out Wednesday night and matched Navy in the early action as each team registered two shots over the initial 15 minutes. The back-and-forth play continued as both teams searched for that first goal. A crisp series of passes from Amanda Graziano to Alexa Riddle and finally to Caitlin Doran in the 29th minute resulted in a high percentage look at the goal, though Doran's shot was pushed just wide. Less than a minute later, Fisayo Iluyomade put American's third shot on goal of the half. Similar to the first two shots, Gallagher made the save. Navy took three more shots in the half, though none were on frame. After 45 minutes of play, the Mids had outshot the Eagles, 8-6.
 
Coming out in the second half, Navy quickly rattled off three shots in a matter of four minutes. Riddle had the first look as she received a lead pass, dribbled around an American defender and found herself in a one-on-one with the Eagles' goalkeeper, Julia Kato. Unfortunately, for the Mids, Kato came off her line and deflected Riddle's shot away. Off the ensuing corner kick, the Mids had a pair of shots blocked in quick succession.
 
American countered this early Navy push with four shots over a nine-plus minute run from 52:20 to 61:32. Two of those Eagle attempts were on frame and were subsequently denied by Gallagher. The junior's save of Brooke Steel's shot in the 62nd minute was extra note-worthy as the ricochet bounced out to Cailin Panacek and glanced wide of the net.
 
A little over two minutes later, Navy broke through onto the scoreboard as Abusham tracked down a ball at the end line and whipped a cross into the six-yard box to the oncoming Daunt, who re-directed the ball off the top of her right foot sharply inside the near post at 63:33.
 
The next 15 minutes proceeded without a shot as physical play in the middle portion of the field controlled most of the action. Down 1-0, American's comeback push hit its high gear in the final five minutes of regulation the Eagles put three shots on goal. Gallagher was locked in and producing at a high-level right to the end and made save on all three shots. Her save of Kadzban's shot in the 86th minute saw her soar off her line and athletically leap high to the right.  
 
For the game, American outshot Navy, 15-12 with an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Eagles also held a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.