ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's soccer team will look to build on its momentum from a dominant 4-0 win over Bucknell in both teams' Patriot League opener last Friday night with a mid-week tilt versus Loyola on Wednesday. An extremely difficult opening series of league opponents continues for the Mids (4-2-3, 1-0 PL) as the team welcomes a Greyhound (4-3-2, 1-0 PL) squad that was picked fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll after starting off with a Bison team that was ranked second in that same poll. After Wednesday's game, Navy will move on to play Boston University, who garnered the third-most points in the preseason vote on Saturday afternoon. All four teams finished in the top-four of the 2021 Patriot League regular season standings. The Navy-Loyola contest is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Wednesday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility on Navy's campus.

The Navy-Loyola 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
Loyola
The Greyhounds come into Friday's game with a 4-3-2 record with victories over Rice (Aug. 25, 1-0); Youngstown State (Aug. 28, 4-0); Howard (Sept. 8, 2-0) and Colgate (Sept. 17, 1-0) ... Loyola is 2-0-2 over its past four games with aforementioned wins ove Howard and Colgate, as well as ties against Kent State (Sept. 4, 0-0) and No. 24 Wake Forest (Sept. 11, 0-0) ... A defensive-minded squad, the Greyhounds have scored one or fewer goals in six of nine contests and average just 7.3 shots per game ... In its Patriot League opener last Saturday afternoon, Loyola defeated Colgate on the road by a score of 1-0. Tied 0-0 through 88 minutes of play, Baylee DeSmit knocked home the game-winning goal at 88:46 to give the visitors the 1-0 victory. In goal, Paige Sim turned aside seven Raider shots on goal ... The Greyhounds were picked fourth out of 10 teams in the Patriot League's preseason coaches poll with 116 voting points and two first-place votes.

Navy vs. Loyola
In a series that dates back to the first-ever NCAA Division I game for Navy on Sept. 4, 1993, the Mids are 11-3-4 all-time against the Greyhounds ... After dropping the first two games of the series in 1993 and 1994, Navy has fallen to Loyola just once, a Sept. 24, 2016 meeting by a score of 2-1 in double overtime (11-1-4 record) ... Since Loyola joined the Patriot League in 2013, Navy is 5-1-3 in nine regular season meetings ... The teams have met 11 times in Annapolis with the Mids posting a 7-1-3 mark.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five meetings dating back to 2019, Navy is 3-0-2 and has outscored Loyola, 5-1
    Sept. 22, 2021 (A): Navy 2 - Loyola 0
    April 14, 2021 (H): Navy 1 - Loyola 0 (Patriot League Semifinals)
    March 27, 2021 (A): Navy 1 - Loyola 0, OT
    Nov. 8, 2019 (H): Navy 1 - Loyola 1 (Patriot League Semifinals, Navy advances 4-3 on PK)
    Nov. 1, 2019 (H): Navy 0 - Loyola 0

Who's Happy to See the Hounds
Navy returns five players from previous meetings that have tallied either a goal, assist or save against Loyola ...
   Caitlin Doran - Two game-winning goals, 3/27/21 and 9/22/22
   Katie Herrmann - Game-winning goal, 4/14/21
   Kassidy Borden - Second goal in Navy's 2-0 win, 9/22/22
   Sadie McCaleb - Assist on Doran's score, 9/22/22
   Mattie Gallagher - Back-to-Back-to-Back shutouts, 3/27/21, 4/14/21 and 9/22/22 with 6 combined saves

Most Recent Matchup: September 22, 2021 in Baltimore
The Navy women's soccer team had an emphatic answer to a tough Patriot League result this past weekend at Bucknell as the Mids came out Wednesday night and netted two set piece goals, while holding Loyola without a shot on goal in a 2-0 victory at the Ridley Athletic Complex. Unfazed by a 30-minute delay due to lightning in the Baltimore area, the Mids came out and played a vintage brand of Navy Women's Soccer with purposeful quick-strike offense and stifling team defense against a Greyhound team, that they have met in each of the past two Patriot League Tournaments. Caitlin Doran and Kassidy Borden spearheaded Navy's offensive efforts with goals in the 28th and 75th minutes of play, respectively.

As expected in a matchup of competitive local rivals, who have played three one-goal games and two more double overtime draws over their last five meetings, the majority of the early action between the Mids and Greyhounds was in the midfield with just four combined shots over the opening 25 minutes of play with two shots credited to each side. The game's first swing of momentum took a turn in the visitors' favor less than three minutes later. Entering the game off the bench at 26:29, Doran immediately left her mark as she flicked in a low line drive corner kick from Sadie McCaleb at 27:11.

With Navy ahead 1-0, the Mids' defense helped hold the Greyhounds off the scoreboard the rest of the half as Chloe Dawson made a sliding block of a Kelly Hutton shot in the 31st minute before Mattie Gallagher came off her line to intercept a curling cross in the 40th.

Not willing to rest on its one-goal lead, Navy tested Loyola's goalkeeper Paige Sim with a pair of shots towards the upper half of the goal. Jenna Daunt was the first Midshipmen to record a shot on goal in the 62nd minute before Dawson nearly snuck her shot under the crossbar if not for Sim leaping up and pushing the shot over in the 67th.

Navy's third shot on goal of the period left its mark when Borden lined with a free kick a few yards inside the midfield stripe and ripped a shot the bounced just inside the six-yard box and one-hopped Sim into the back of the net at 74:57.

Up 2-0, the Mids suffocated all of the Greyhounds' remaining offensive looks as Loyola was unable to muster any shots over the final 15 minutes of play.

In the victory, Navy outshot Loyola, 12-5 with a 5-0 advantage in shots on goal. The host Greyhounds earned seven corner kicks versus three for the Mids.

Comparing the Teams

2022 Stats	Navy	Loyola
Record	4-2-3	4-3-2
Goals/Gm	1.67	1.22
Assists/Gm	2.11	1.33
Shots/Gm	11.1	7.3
Goals Against Average	0.56	1.33
GK Saves/Gm	4.33	5.22

Individual Leaders

	Navy	Loyola
Goals	3 Players, 2	DeSmit, 5
Assists	Graziano, 5	Quaranta, 4
Points	Graziano, 7	DeSmit, 12
Shots	Doran, 10	DeSmit, 21
GK Saves	Gallagher, 39	Sim, 47

Last Time Out: September 16 vs. Bucknell
The Navy women's soccer team came out locked in and highly motivated and it showed on the scoreboard as the Mids (4-2-3, 1-0 PL) made a loud statement on Friday night with an emphatic 4-0 win over the Bucknell Bison (3-4-1, 0-1 PL) in a rematch from last year's Patriot League Semifinals. Picked first and second in this year's Patriot League Preseason Coaches' Poll, Navy first and Bucknell second, the Mids scored early and often, while their defense was solid throughout the 90 minutes at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility with their fifth shutout of the season through just nine games.

Alexa Riddle got the scoring going with her first goal of the year in the sixth minute as she was followed by Jenna Daunt in the 28th minute, Caitlin Doran in the 56th and Marlee Heaven in the 76th. Though not a goal scorer, Amanda Graziano played a pivotal role in nearly all of those goals as she was credited with three assists.

The action started out fast for the visitors as Rylee Donaldson, the reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, rocketed a shot towards goal that rang off the cross bar just 54 seconds into the game. Less than three minutes later, Bucknell lined up another shot, though a Navy defender blocked Kenar Gelman's attempt.

After withstanding that initial burst by the Bison, the Mids broke onto the scoreboard first at 6:26 when Chloe Dawson and Graziano worked a quick give-and-go off of a throw-in before Dawson whipped a cross into the six-yard box to Riddle, who sprinted in front of a defender and one-timed a shot into the low corner past Bucknell's goalkeeper, Jenna Hall.

A little over 20 minutes later, Navy extended its lead to two goals when Graziano spun around a defender, headed in towards the net and ripped a shot towards the far post only to see Hall make a diving save. With an aggressive nose for the goal, Daunt quickly gathered the fortuitous rebound and put away the loose ball at 27:16.

The defending Patriot League Champions, the Bison continued their quest to break onto the scoreboard in the second half as twice in the first three minutes, Bucknell tested Mattie Gallagher, including a Donaldson shot in the 46th minute that forced the Mids' keeper to dive low to her right.

Navy added to its lead 10 minutes later as Graziano played a ball over the top and through the Bucknell defense to Doran, who settled the ball, and almost immediately hit a high arching shot over Hall and into the far upper-90 at 55:01.

The final goal of the game came in the 76th minute when Isabella Romano collected a deflected ball off of a Healey pass into the box and quickly played a crisp pass on the ground to the far post to Heaven, who finished the ball into the back of the net at 75:12.

For the game, both teams recorded 14 shots, though Navy held a slight 7-6 edge in shots on goal. The visitors had a significant 9-3 advantage in corner kicks on Friday night.

In goal, Gallagher made six saves to earn her 11th career shutout and drop her 2022 goals against average to 0.63 over eight games of action.

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.