ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's soccer team will play the fifth of its nine scheduled Patriot League games this Friday on the road at Lehigh. Both the Mids (5-4-3, 2-2 PL) and the Mountain Hawks (4-5-1, 2-2 PL) find themselves in the middle of the league standings with matching 2-2 marks through the first four conference games. Tied for fifth overall, a win by either side could potentially move them up to second place in the league table. Navy and Lehigh come into Friday's contest after hard-fought one-goal decisions last weekend as the Mids edged Colgate, 2-1 on Friday, while the Mountain Hawks fell to Boston University, 1-0 on Saturday. Kickoff in Bethlehem is set for 5 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex.

The Navy-Lehigh 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
Lehigh
The Mountain Hawks come into Friday's game with a 4-5-1 record ... They won a pair of non-conference games over Siena (Sept. 8: 2-1) and St. John's (Sept. 11: 1-0), as well as a pair of league matchups versus Lafayette (Sept. 21: 2-0) and Holy Cross (Sept. 24: 1-0) ... Navy and Lehigh have three opponents in common so far in 2022: Penn (Navy: T, 1-1 | Lehigh: L. 2-1) ... St. John's (Navy: L, 2-0 | Lehigh: W, 1-0) ... Boston University (Navy: L, 1-0 | Lehigh: L, 1-0) ... Last time out, the Mountain Hawks fell on the road at Boston as the Terriers' Amy Thompson netted the go-ahead goal in the 81st minute. As a team, the Mountain Hawks were outshot 10-6 and 5-2 in shots on goal ... Lehigh was picked sixth out of 10 teams in the Patriot League's preseason coaches poll with 72 voting points.

Navy vs. Lehigh
Friday will be the 32nd meeting between the two schools in a series that began on Sept. 18, 1993 ... Navy leads the series 23-4-4 and has outscored Lehigh, 59-19 all-time ... After going 0-2-1 over the teams' first three meetings, Navy has kicked the series into gear with an 23-2-3 mark beginning in 1996 ... Navy is 7-3-2 over 12 games played in Bethlehem ... The Mids are currently in the midst of a 11-game winning streak, in which they have outscored the Mountain Hawks, 22-3.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five meetings dating back to 2017, the Mids are 5-0 and have outscored the Mountain Hawks, 9-2.
    Oct. 8, 2022 (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
    Sept. 30, 2017 (H): Navy 2 - Lehigh 0

Most Recent Matchup: October 8, 2021 in Annapolis, Md.
Navy grabbed an important three points in the Patriot League standings on Friday, Oct. 8 with a 2-1 victory over Lehigh. Invigorated by a large crowd at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility that was in town to celebrate Navy's Senior Class of 2022 and the program's alumni reunion, the Mids came flying out of the gate with an Alexa Riddle goal 83 seconds into the contest over the Mountain Hawks. Tied a halftime, senior Molly Gillcrist made sure that she would have a Senior Night to remember as she netted Navy's go-ahead goal in the 65th minute.

Riddle got the hometown fans fired up within the first 90 seconds of action as she was on the receiving end of a booming Mattie Gallagher punt. Once in possession of the ball, the freshman forward dribbled her way around and through a series of Lehigh defenders before unleashing a powerful left-footed strike from the top of the 18-yard box. Riddle's goal came at the 1:23 mark of the first half.
 
The Mids' lead was short-lived as the visiting Mountain Hawks drew even less than four minutes later when they converted a corner kick into a goal at 5:17.
 
Lehigh kept up its offensive pressure the rest of the first half as they tallied four more shots on goal, though Gallagher was up to the task. The Mountain Hawks' highest percentage look was a Corinne Lyght shot from seven yards out that required Gallagher to dive to her left and bat the shot away in the 34th minute. Tied 1-1 going into halftime, Lehigh held a 11-5 advantage in total shots with a 5-3 edge in shots on goal.
  
With Lehigh's offense held at bay without a shot on goal for the final 30 minutes, it was Navy's chance to pull ahead and the Mids did just that in the 65th minute. Built off of a lengthy Sadie McCaleb throw-in into the box, Gillcrist received a header flick-on by Rylee Rives and quickly hit a left-footed shot into the low left corner of the net at 65:00.
 
Up 2-1, Navy's defense turned aside a pair of late Lehigh looks in the final third as Katie Herrmann stepped in front of a dangerous pass inside the six-yard box in the 70th minute and Gallagher soared over a pack of on-coming Mountain Hawk attackers and punched away a deep free kick in the 83rd minute.
 
For the game, Lehigh outshot Navy, 13-12 with a 7-6 advantage in shots on goal. The host Midshipmen recorded five corner kicks versus three for the Mountain Hawks.

Comparing the Teams

2022 Stats	Navy	Lehigh
Record	5-4-3	4-5-1
Goals/Gm	1.42	1.10
Assists/Gm	1.67	0.50
Shots/Gm	11.5	11.8
Goals Against Average	0.67	1.30
GK Saves/Gm	4.50	3.40

Individual Leaders

	Navy	Lehigh
Goals	3 Players, 2	Shuey, 3
Assists	Graziano, 5	Murphy, 3
Points	Graziano, 7	Shuey, 6
Shots	Riddle, 16	Lyght, 25
GK Saves	Gallagher, 54	Ousouljoglou, 33

Last Time Out: September 30 vs. Colgate
After allowing an early goal in the first minute of play, the Navy women's soccer team mounted a second half comeback on Friday to capture a 2-1 victory over Colgate at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The Mids used goals by defenders Sadie McCaleb and Tatum Kelly to even their Patriot League record and defeat the Raiders in a game that was moved up two hours to combat the early effects of Hurricane Ian.

The Mids had an extremely inauspicious start to Friday's contest as the Raiders' Ellie Stokes took advantage of a loose ball in the box and quickly ripped a shot into the back of the net just 30 seconds into the game.
 
Trailing 1-0, Navy was unable to gain much traction in its comeback attempt in the first half as the hosts only registered two total shots in the opening period with just one on target, a Katie Herrmann shot in the 13th minute. 
 
Coming out of the halftime intermission trailing by one goal, Navy immediately took aim on Colgate's net as Jenna Daunt tested Grace Poncsak with a shot towards the upper-90 only 35 seconds into the period. Less than two minutes later, Mimi Abusham forced Poncsak off her line again with a low shot on frame.
 
The Mids' third shot on goal of the half paid dividends as McCaleb one-timed a weak Raider clearance from 25-yards out and rocketed a low line drive shot that blistered through the Colgate defense without even a touch by Poncsak at 50:57.
 
Energized by the first goal of McCaleb's career, Navy recorded three more shots over the next 12 minutes.
 
Mattie Gallagher came through with a clutch save for the Mids in the 68th minute to hold onto the 1-1 tie as Sara Anelli's shot deflected off a Navy defender and bounded through the box before Gallagher dove to her left to snag the ball.
 
The Mids' tenacity eventually paid off in the 87th minute when Chloe Dawson lofted a high free kick into the box from 40 yards out. With the ball in the air, Kelly leapt up over the nearest Raider defender and flicked a header into the top right-90 of the goal mouth at 86:39.
 
Gallagher's seventh save of the game in the 88th minute helped Navy hold on for the 2-1 victory.
 
For the game, Navy outshot Colgate, 13-12, though the Raiders put eight of those attempts on goal versus five for the Mids. Colgate also held a significant 10-2 advantage in corner kicks.