CHESTER, Pa. – The Navy men's soccer team could not overcome a pair of second-half goals by Army on Friday night, as the Black Knights defeated the Midshipmen, 2-0, in Army-Navy Cup XI presented by Leidos at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa.
 
Friday's loss moved Navy to 4-3-4 on the season and 2-1-2 in Patriot League play, while Army jumped into first place in the league standings at 3-1-1 and improved to 5-3-3 overall. The result also moves the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA to a 2-1 record in favor of the Black Knights.
 
Both teams fought to get an edge early, with Navy's first true scoring opportunity coming in the 12th minute when sophomore midfielder Noah Ward broke towards the net near the right goal line, sending a tough-angle shot that missed wide of the left post.
 
The Navy defense was able to shot-block most of the Black Knights' chances in the first half, while Army's leading scorer Gage Guerra sent a pair of shots off-target. Sophomore midfielder Charlie Kriel then got the Mids another scoring chance at 36', but his shot was blocked inside the 18-yard line and junior forward Baba Kallie had his attempt blocked as well on the rebound.
 
After both teams had shots off-target in the opening minutes of the second half, Army finally broke through on the scoresheet when Sam Epitime's shot off a throw-in forced Navy sophomore goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook to make a diving save the right side of the net. The rebound spilled to Dylan Mitchiner on the goal line, as he crossed a pass back towards left post where Guerra put a shot past Holbrook at 53'.
 
Both teams continued to try and create offense for the next 15 minutes, but neither side put a shot on net until Cooper Warren inbounded a corner kick in the 69th minute, as Jack Eaton put a header on goal from seven yards out on the left side and a crossing Brandon Bryant tipped the shot and redirected the ball out of the reach of Holbrook.
 
Kallie would try to answer in the 70th minute, but his shot was saved to the bottom left corner of the net by Tomas Hut, while junior midfielder David Jackson also had a shot saved by Hut shortly after.
 
Army locked down the Navy offense the rest of the way, as the Black Knights limited the Mids to one off-target shot by Jackson in the 88th minute before time expired.
 
"It's disappointing to lose to West Point, but we have a lot of season left," said Navy head coach Tim O'Donohue. "We played well in the first half, but then we gave up a set-piece goal in the second half that allowed them to gain some momentum. We tried to tie it up and grab the momentum back, but they went up 2-0 and were able to sit back for the rest of the contest. We have four weeks to go in the regular season and we also need to find a way to win the league, but we know in the back of our minds we may see Army again in the Patriot League Tournament."
 
Hut picked up his shutout with two saves, while Holbrook made one save in the loss. Both teams had 14 shots on the night, while Army had the slight 9-7 edge in corner kicks.
 
Navy returns to Patriot League action on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Lehigh, with the Mids and Mountain Hawks set for a 6 p.m. kick in Bethlehem, Pa.