ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Extending his goal-scoring streak to five games, junior midfielder David Jackson's tally in the 52nd minute was the only offense that Navy needed on Wednesday night in Patriot League men's soccer action, as sophomore goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook provided a masterpiece at the other end with six saves in a 1-0 shutout over Lafayette on Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium.
 
The victory improves the Midshipmen to 4-2-3 overall and 2-0-1 in the league standings, while the Leopards sank to 6-3-1 on the season and 1-1-1 in league play.
 
Lafayette got the first scoring opportunity of the game at 4', as a cross found Lawrence Aydlett in the box, whose shot forced Navy sophomore goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook to make a diving save, while senior defender JD Wagner then made a sliding clearance on the left side to nix a Leopard's chance at a rebound.
 
In the 24th minute, sophomore midfielder Noah Ward was able to find fellow sophomore midfielder Wasswa Robbins in the box from the end line, but Robbins' cross to junior forward Baba Kallie was intercepted and cleared.
 
Holbrook had to make another diving stop to his right on Hale Lombard at 29', as Lombard was given a pass on the run and beat the Navy defender in a footrace before ripping his low shot about 12 yards out from the left post.
 
A flurry of corner kicks for Navy led to junior midfielder David Jackson putting a perfect inbound into the box on the third try, as junior defender Zach Wagner was able to connect but his header went high in the 44th minute. Lafayette had its own corner-kick chance in the final minute of the first half, as Marcos Kitromilides directed a shot on-target out of a scrum that Holbrook had to gobble up for his third save of the opening half.
 
The strong defensive showing in the first 45 minutes gave way to an offensive push from both sides in the second half, as Ward led the elder Wagner into a perfect cross opportunity from the end line. Wagner's pass found Jackson's foot in the 52nd minute, with Jackson finishing the sequence by slotting a shot past Alex Sutton into the lower right corner and extending Jackson's goal streak.
 
Lafayette pushed back with a shot from David Mizrahi at 56' that Holbrook saved, while Lombard had his shot go off-target at 60' and Yiannis Panayides had a free-kick cross picked out of the air by Holbrook in the 64th minute.
 
A pair of corner kicks in the 74th minute nearly led to another high-quality chance for the Mids, but both volley attempts were blocked, while Holbrook made another save on Kitromilides at 75' and then stopped Benji Grossi in the 79th minute on a shot to the upper left part of the net, finally coming off the line to dive and cut off a loose ball before streaking Aydlett could get a touch at 81'.
 
Aydlett had another chance in the 85th minute on the run but his shot sailed well high, and Lombard had a header go wide of the right post in the final minute of the game, but neither would require Holbrook, who earned his fourth shutout of the season.
 
"It was once again a very physical game," said Navy head coach Tim O'Donohue. "Lafayette is extremely dangerous on set pieces and in the way they play. They had the same group as last year back and I am happy our young players stepped up to the challenge. It was an excellent performance with toughness from our group, with the back-four playing excellent, Pierce being outstanding and David getting another timely goal with an excellent assist from JD."
 
For the Mids, the current six-game undefeated streak is the longest since the team had a 16-game stretch without a loss from 2018-19, a streak that saw Navy rattle off four wins to end 2018 and then win its first 11 games in 2019 before tying Army, 1-1. The current streak is the second-longest streak during O'Donohue's tenure at the helm, and the fifth-longest undefeated streak by the Mids in the last 20 years.

Jackson's current streak of five-straight games with a goal is the longest by a Mid since Mike Flanagan scored in seven-straight games during the 1968 season.
 
For Holbrook, his six saves match his career high from the Sept. 4 tie against St. Francis Brooklyn.
 
Lafayette outshot Navy, 11-2, and had a 9-5 edge in corner kicks, but the Mids limited themselves to two fouls the entire games compared to the Leopards' five fouls.
 
Navy continues Patriot League play with a 3 p.m. meeting against Boston University on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The Mids will then head to Chester, Pa., on Oct. 7 for the Army-Navy Cup XI at Subaru Park.