ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The quest for the 2022 Patriot League Women's Soccer Championship begins on Sunday for Navy as the Mids travel to Bethlehem, Pa. and the Ulrich Sports Complex for a showdown with the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. In a quarterfinal matchup between the fourth-seed Mountain Hawks (7-6-3, 5-2-2 PL) and the fifth-seeded Mids (8-7-3, 4-5 PL) the teams will run back a Oct. 7 contest that saw Lehigh knock off Navy, 2-0 on their home turf. Both squads will be fighting for a spot in the Patriot League Semifinals on Thursday evening. Kickoff for the Navy-Lehigh quarterfinal game is scheduled for 2 p.m.

The Navy-Lehigh 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.

Navy in the Patriot League Tournament
The Mids will be competing in their 25th Patriot League Tournament in the 30 years of the program's existance ... All-time, Navy is 20-19-2 in postseason action and 3-1 in four quarterfinal matchups ... The Mids have reached the semifinals in each of the past three seasons ... Navy has won five Patriot League titles, including two in the past three years, 2019 and 2020-21 ... The Mids and Mountain Hawks have never met in the Patriot League Tournament on Lehigh's campus.

Navy vs. Lehigh
Sunday will be the 33rd meeting between the two schools in a series that began on Sept. 18, 1993 ... Navy leads the series 23-5-4 and has outscored Lehigh, 59-21 all-time ... After going 0-2-1 over the teams' first three meetings, Navy has kicked the series into gear with an 23-3-3 mark beginning in 1996 ... Navy is 7-4-2 over 13 games played in Bethlehem ... Prior to the Mids' lost to the Mountain Hawks on Oct. 7 of this regular season, the team had won 11 straight games, in which they had outscored the Mountain Hawks, 22-3 ... All-time in Patriot League Tournament action, Navy is 2-0 defeating Lehigh 4-1 in Annapolis on Nov. 2, 2012 and 2-0 on Nov. 3, 2006 in Lewisburg, Pa.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five meetings dating back to 2018, the Mids are 4-1 and have outscored the Mountain Hawks, 7-4.
    Oct. 7, 2022 (A): Lehigh 2 - Navy 0
    Oct. 8, 2021 (H): Navy 2 - Lehigh 1
    April 3, 2021 (H): Navy 2 - Lehigh 1
    Oct. 5, 2019 (H): Navy 1 - Lehigh 0
    Sept. 29, 2018 (A): Navy 2 - Lehigh 0

Most Recent Matchup - October 7, 2022 in Bethlehem
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 (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) 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.

Comparing the Teams

2022 Stats	Navy	Lehigh
Record	8-7-3	7-6-3
Goals/Gm	1.22	1.31
Assists/Gm	1.44	0.56
Shots/Gm	12.3	10.8
Goals Against Average	0.78	1.19
GK Saves/Gm	4.72	3.56

Individual Leaders

	Navy	Lehigh
Goals	Daunt/I. Romano, 3	Lyght, 6
Assists	Graziano, 5	Murphy, 3
Points	Graziano, 9	Lyght, 13
Shots	Riddle, 23	Lyght, 43
GK Saves	Gallagher, 85	Ousouljoglou, 48

Last Time Out: October 26 at Lafayette
Navy received a career-best performance from goalkeeper Mattie Gallagher on Wednesday night at Lafayette to clinch the program's 12th straight Patriot League Tournament appearance. Coming into the regular season finale versus the Leopards (3-11-3, 1-6-2 PL) in the sixth spot for the upcoming league tournament, the Mids (8-7-3, 4-5 PL) controlled their destiny and made sure that they'd be extending their season as Mimi Abusham score the go-ahead goal in the 62nd minute, while Gallagher continued to stonewall the hosts with a career-high 10 saves. Courtesy of Navy's 1-0 victory at Oaks Stadium as well as a 2-1 win by American over Loyola, the Mids were able to secure the fifth seed in the tournament that begins on Sunday afternoon.

The Leopards were active early and often with seven shots in the initial 20 minutes of the game. Heading deeper into the first half, and still being outshot by a 7-2 margin, Navy made some in-roads in Lafayette's defensive third. Isabella Romano registered the Mids' first shot since the 14:09 as she ripped a shot towards the near post that forced the Leopards' Natalie Neumann to dive to her right in the 39th minute. Off of the ensuing corner kick by Kat Healey, Katie Herrmann met the cross and redirected the ball on goal though Neumann made the save.

Gallagher's reflexes were tested once again before halftime as a back-to-back series of shots over four seconds by Melissa Lamanna and Sara Oswald saw the junior goalkeeper make a kick save followed by a two-handed deflection in the 40th minute.

After making six saves in the first half, Gallagher was called upon again early in the second stanza as she made a point blank save on a McDonald one-timer in the 53rd minute.

Energized by their goalkeeper's outstanding play, the Mids' offense finally got clicking. Over the next nine minutes after Gallagher's latest stop, Navy registered three shots. The Mids' persistence paid off as that third attempt found the back of the net. After a failed clearance of a corner kick by the Leopards, Sadie McCaleb and Rylee Rives played a quick give-and-go to set up Abusham, who lofted a soft, floating shot into the upper-90 for her second goal of the season at 61:26.

Navy's goal came just minutes after Colgate pushed ahead of Holy Cross by a score of 2-1. For playoff purposes, the Mids needed to win should either the Raiders or Crusaders secure a result as they came into Wednesday's slate with just a one-point advantage over Colgate and a two-point lead on Holy Cross.

In control with a 1-0 lead, Gallagher made sure that the one-goal edge would standup for the final 28 minutes of action at Oaks Stadium. In the 70th minute, she dove to defend the lower right post from an Emily Coe shot before denying McDonald twice in the final 3:11.

For the game, Lafayette outshot Navy, 15-9 and had a 10-8 advantage in shots on goal. The host Leopards also recorded two more corner kicks than the Mids, 4-2.