ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's soccer team will open up Patriot League play this Friday night at home at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility with a rematch from the 2021 Patriot League Semifinals versus Bucknell. The showdown between the two squads that were picked first and second in the 2022 Patriot League Preseason Coaches Poll is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff in Annapolis. Friday night's contest is the first of nine league games for the Mids (3-2-3) and Bison (3-3-1), respectively, as both teams will be aiming to reach the conference tournament that begins on October 30.

The Navy-Bucknell 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
Bucknell
The Bison come into Friday's game with a 3-3-1 record with victories over Saint Francis, Pa. (Aug. 18, 4-1); Air Force (Aug. 28, 1-0) and Binghamton (Sept. 1, 2-0) to their name ... Bucknell is 1-2-1 over its past two weekends with three of those games coming on the road ... Most recently, Bucknell tied No. 17 West Virginia, 0-0 on Sept. 11 in Morgantown, W.Va. ... Under the category of common opponents, Navy and Bucknell have both played Towson with the Bison dropping a 2-0 contest on Sept. 8 at Towson, while the Mids and Tigers played 45 minutes of water-logged scoreless soccer this past Sunday before the contest was abandoned and declared a 'no contest' due to unplayable field conditions ... The Bison were picked second out of 10 teams in the Patriot League's preseason coaches poll with 144 voting points, just one behind the Mids.

Navy vs. Bucknell
Friday will be the 35th meeting between the two schools in a series that began in Navy's second year of varsity existence in 1994; all-time the Mids lead the Bison, 19-13-2, though the series is knotted 8-8-1 over 17 games in Annapolis ... In that Oct. 22, 1994 matchup, the Mids earned a 2-1 victory over the Bison ... Since that initial contest, the series has gone in multi-year waves numerous times ... From 1995 through 1999, Navy went 4-0-1 before the programs split six games between 2002 and 2007 with Navy winning the first three and Bucknell the later three ... More recently, the Mids won four straight from 2011 to 2014 before going 1-3-1 from 2015 to 2017 and then winning three straight, including a 1-0 victory in Lewisburg on March, 31, 2021 by a score of 1-0 ... Last season, the Bison collected a pair of victories over the Mids; 4-2 in the regular season and 1-0 in the Patriot League Semifinals ... All-time, Navy has outscored Bucknell, 52-36.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five matchups dating back to the 2018 season, the Mids are 3-2-0 with a 7-5 advantage in scoring over that span.
    Nov. 4, 2021 (H): Bucknell 1 - Navy 0, overtime ~ PL Semifinals
    Sept. 18, 2021 (A): Bucknell 4 - Navy 2
    March 31, 2021 (A): Navy 1 - Bucknell 0
    Oct. 19, 2019 (H): Navy 1 - Bucknell 0, overtime
    Oct. 26, 2018 (A): Navy 3 - Bucknell 0

Most Recent Matchup: November 4, 2021 in Annapolis (PL Semifinals)
Navy saw its 2021 season in dramatic and heart-breaking fashion on Thursday night as Bucknell earned a 1-0 golden goal victory in the fourth minute of overtime in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament. Scoreless through 90 minutes of regulation action at Navy's Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, the fourth-seeded Bison received an unassisted goal from Teresa Deda at 93:09 to upset the second-seeded Midshipmen and advance to Sunday's Patriot League Championship game.

In a rematch of the Patriot League opener from Sept. 18 in Lewisburg, Pa. that saw Bucknell win 4-2, Thursday's playoff matchup had all the makings of an offensive slugfest as the two squads came in each averaging over 1.6 goals per game in league action. Though the strategy and looks were there throughout most of the game on Thursday, the movement on the scoreboard was dormant for the action in regulation.
 
Mattie Gallagher was active early to keep the Bison scoreless as she soared up to push a Deda shot on goal into the crossbar and away from danger in the 11th minute. The same series of shot and save occurred nearly 10 minutes as Gallagher snared Deda's next attempt. Bucknell's pressure in its attacking third continued throughout the rest of the first half as the visitors put two more shots on goal.
 
Gallagher kept up her high-level performance in goal for the Mids as she was called upon early in the second half with leaping save of a Rylee Donaldson attempt in the 46th minute and a diving denial of a Paige Temple re-direct of a cross from inside the six in the 52nd minute.
 
With Navy held scoreless for the opening 75 minutes, Bucknell continued to search for the go-ahead goal down the stretch. Gallagher was up for this task during this period of play as she was unrelenting in net making her seventh and final save of regulation with a stop of Hannah Stuck in the 77th minute. The Mids' first shot on goal and test of the Bison's goalkeeper Jenna Hall in the matchup came in the 87th minute when Alexa Riddle took aim for the upper-90 from 30 yards out. Unfortunately for the hosts, Hall leapt up at the goal line and snagged the high arching shot.
 
Tied 0-0 through 90 minutes, the game advanced into sudden victory overtime with a berth into the Patriot League Championship on the line. Slightly over three minutes into the first period, Deda put her third shot on goal of the game into the back of the net with a low left-footed rip from 20 yards out at 93:09.
 
For the game, Bucknell outshot Navy, 18-9 with an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal. Gallagher's seven saves was her third highest total in 18 starts in her sophomore campaign.

Comparing the Teams

2022 Stats	Navy	Bucknell
Record	3-2-3	3-3-1
Goals/Gm	1.38	1.14
Assists/Gm	1.75	0.86
Shots/Gm	10.8	15.3
Goals Against Average	0.63	0.86
GK Saves/Gm	4.13	4.29

Individual Leaders

	Navy	Bucknell
Goals	Foster/Yi, 2	Donaldson, 3
Assists	Liesen, 3	Deda, 3
Points	Liesen, 5	Donaldson, 6
Shots	I. Romano, 9	Deda, 26
GK Saves	Gallagher, 33	Hall, 18

Last Time Out: September 11 vs. Towson
Torrential downpours throughout the entire first half of Sunday night's Navy-Towson women's soccer match rendered the playing field at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility hazardous and unplayable to the extent that the referees declared the competition a "no-contest" during the halftime intermission. During the 45 minutes of play between the Mids (3-2-3) and the Tigers (5-1-1), the footing was tough to come by for players on both sides and in multiple instances passes and shots were grabbed and stopped by puddles.

Statistically, Towson outshot Navy through the first half, 5-4, though the Mids had a slight 2-1 edge in shots on goal. Navy's first and most dangerous scoring opportunity came in the 20th minute when Amanda Graziano hit an in-swinging corner kick that slipped through the Towson goalkeeper, Riley Melendez' hands and a chaotic seen broke out in the six-yard box, though the visitors were able to sweep away the ball at the last moment. 

Mattie Gallagher did her part to make sure the first half was scoreless as she stopped Phoebe Canoles' point blank shot on goal in the 25th minute.

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.