ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy men's soccer team (5-5-2, 2-1-1 PL) is set to make the annual trip up to Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., facing off with historic rival Army (3-6-1, 1-3-1 PL) on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. in Army-Navy Cup XII presented by Leidos.
 
The Midshipmen and Black Knights will kick off Army-Navy Cup XII with both sides looking to move up in the Patriot League standings. The match also has the third star on the line in the 2023-24 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, with the season series between the two athletic departments sitting at 2-0 in favor of Army and four more stars up for grabs this weekend.
 
Veterans of the Patriot League
Since the start of the 2022 season, the Mids have posted a 7-2-7 record against Patriot League opponents, including a 5-2-6 mark in the regular season … Navy was undefeated in its last 10 matches against Patriot League schools before last Saturday's loss at Boston University, going 5-0-5 between Oct. 7, 2022 and Oct. 7, 2023 … Over three-plus seasons, the current Navy senior class has posted a 16-8-8 record against Patriot League competition … With 57 career points, senior standout David Jackson has accrued 26 of those points against Patriot League competition … Senior forward Baba Kallie has tallied 10 of his 25 career points against Patriot League teams with four goals and two assists … Fellow senior Jason Aoyama has had 14 of his 18 career points come against league foes.
 
League Leaders
Navy enters the weekend with a Patriot League-leading 21 goals on the season, while the team's 150 total shots ranks second in the league … Jackson continues to be one of the league's best offensive players, leading the PL with 1.58 points per game and ranking second in goals (7), assists (5) and shots on goal (14) … Sophomore Andrew Schug has also made a mark on the scoresheet, sitting third in the league with five total goals and fourth in the PL at 1.00 points per game … Fellow sophomore A.J. Schuetz ranks second in the league at 2.82 shots per game while standing tied for third with 14 shots on goal … Junior goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook is tied for the league lead with four shutouts.
 
Navy in the National Rankings
The Mids' 0.490 shot accuracy ranks 25th in the country, while Navy's 6.08 shots on goal per game sits 36th nationally … Navy also ranks 29th in Division I with a 0.417 shutout percentage … Jackson's 19 total points ranks 17th in the NCAA, with his 1.58 points per game ranking 26th … The seven goals from Jackson also ranks 28th in the country and his five assists are the 35th-most nationally … Schuetz's 2.82 shots per game is 51st in Division I … Holbrook's 1055:23 minutes play in net are the 34th-highest amount among Division I keepers.
 
Navy Notes
The current Navy senior class have helped the Mids post a 28-18-13 overall record during their four years with the program … Navy is 8-0-2 over the past three seasons when Baba Kallie records a goal, 11-4-4 when David Jackson scores, 4-1-2 in games where Jason Aoyama registers a tally and 2-0-2 when Zach Wagner finds the net.
 
Another Homecoming for Union Academy Quartet
The Midshipmen's roster on Friday at Subaru Park will feature four players who all came out of the host Philadelphia Union's development program … Aoyama, Kallie, Wagner and freshman Nate Stewart are all products of the Philadelphia Union Academy teams … Aoyama, Kallie and Wagner also attended YSC Academy, a soccer-specific school for elite soccer players from grades 6 through 12 that is partnered with the Union.
 
Last Time Out
Despite Aoyama's tally in the 33rd minute, Navy fell to first-place Boston University by a 4-1 score on Saturday in a rematch of last season's Patriot League semifinals … A three-point day from the Terriers' Eitan Rosen led to the Mids suffering their first Patriot League loss of the campaign and halting a five-game undefeated streak … Rosen beat a pair of defenders in the 18th minute and pinpointed a shot from 16 yards out that beat Holbrook to the top-right corner … Griffin Roach added to the BU lead in the 28th minute when he deflected a Ryan Lee cross with his heel, but Aoyama was able to cut into the deficit when he collected a clearance, got off a shot just outside the 18-yard box and beat a diving Francesco Montali to the left post … Boston quickly extended its lead coming out of halftime, as Andrew Rent's header on a Rosen cross into the box redirected past Holbrook to the right side of the net in the 48th minute … The Terriers put the game away in the 83rd minute when Aidan Holmes knocked in a failed clear attempt … Montali ended the day with two saves for the win, while Holbrook recorded three saves in the losing effort … This marked the first time Navy has given up four-or-more goals in back-to-back games since the 1983 season.
 
Navy vs. Army All-Time
Going into the 90th all-time meeting between the two programs, the Mids hold a 41-32-16 advantage over their rivals from West Point … Navy has posted a 9-10-6 record against the Black Knights in the past 25 matchups, but are only 3-5-2 against Army in the past 10 contests … Army has a 7-4-3 edge over Navy in neutral-site matches … The longest winning streak in the series from either side was a 10-game win streak by Navy from 1955 to 1964, with draws making it a 13-game unbeaten streak for the Mids against Army from 1954 to 1966.
 
Army-Navy Cup History
While Army and Navy had faced off in two neutral-site contests in the 1960s, the first iteration of the Army-Navy Cup at the Philadelphia Union's home stadium came in 2012 … The Black Knights have a 5-3-3 edge over the Mids through the first 11 meetings at now-Subaru Park … After the 2012 game ended in a 1-1 tie, the Mids won the 2013 and 2014 meetings by a 1-0 score each time before Army rattled off two-straight victories in the event, while a scoreless draw in 2017 set up an Army win in 2018 … A tie in the 2019 match built momentum for the 2020 meeting, but COVID-19 forced the ninth edition of the Army-Navy Cup to be played on April 25, 2021, as Army grabbed a 2-0 win … Just 166 days later, Navy got revenge on Oct. 9 thanks to a hat-trick from Jacob Williams, the first hat-trick in the Cup's 10-year history, as Navy picked up a 3-0 shutout … Army used a pair of second-half goals to defeat Navy in the Oct. 7, 2022 iteration of the match.
 
Scouting Army
After winning the 2022 Patriot League regular-season crown, the Black Knights have struggled early this season against a tough schedule … After a season-opening win over fellow service academy Air Force, Army lost to La Salle, Michigan State and Saint Joseph's before snapping the slide with wins against Albany and Bucknell in its league opener … Losses to Holy Cross, Lafayette and Loyola were followed by a 1-1 draw at Lehigh on Saturday … Jubril Bamgbala, Gage Lyons and Cooper Warren share the team lead with two goals apiece … Joey Hickson and Nick Atkinson pace the Black Knights with two assists each … Harrison Faulkner has been Army's primary goalkeeper, making 24 saves across nine starts.
 
Army-Navy Star Series Update
The contest will mark the third of 26 Star Games between Army and Navy teams in the 2022-23 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA. Army Men's Golf and Sprint Football both earned stars for the Black Knights on Oct. 6, giving Army an early 2-0 edge ... Four stars are on the table this weekend, as the men's soccer Star match will be followed the next day, Oct. 14, by the women's soccer Star match in Annapolis and the men's and women's cross country Star meets in West Point.
 
Up Next
Following Friday's rivalry match, Navy will head to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Oct. 18 for a 2 p.m. match against American.