ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The 2023 Women's Soccer Star was on the line Saturday night and the fans that braved the rainy conditions in Annapolis were treated to a thrilling 90-minute 2-1 battle between service academy rivals Army and Navy. The visitors from West Point ended up on the victorious side of the ledger on the strength of a pair first half goals as the Mids (6-7-3, 1-6 PL) were only able to find the back of the net once against the Black Knights (7-6-3, 4-2-1 PL) at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The 2023 Army-Navy Women's Soccer Star Game was presented by USAA.

Navy's team captain Jenna Daunt (Haymarket, Va.) supplied the second half fireworks for the Mids as she cut their deficit to one in the 76th minute. Her goal was assisted upon by Marlee Heaven (So., Rockville, Md.) and Katie Herrmann (Sr., Charlotte, N.C.).

"I'm proud of our effort, but disappointed in the result," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "I thought we played well and played with a lot of heart. We made the correct passes, changed formations and continued to fight to the final whistle, but unfortunately, it comes down to what it says on the scoreboard. We had to win both boxes tonight, but we gave up two goals and that ended up being one too many."

Alexa Riddle (Jr., Tomball, Texas) was active on the attack for Navy early and often as she took aim at Army's goal just 21 seconds into the contest. She took two more shots over the initial 11-plus minutes, including the Mids' third shot on goal of the game at 11:09.

Surviving that opening blitz by Navy, Army quickly flipped the field and immediately registered a shot on goal as Brigid Duffy tested Mattie Gallagher (Sr., Gilbertsville, Pa.) low and to her right. Turning aside that attempt, the Black Knights lined up for a corner kick. Cami Silvestro's curling cross spelled trouble as Elizabeth Oberhaus connected for a shot on goal that was denied by Gallagher, but saw Madison Niebish bang home the rebound at 12:06.

With the score 1-0 in favor of the visitors, the next 20 minutes was evenly matched with Army holding a slight 4-2 edge in total shots with each side tallying a shot on goal. Navy had a pair of high-percentage scoring chances during this span with the first coming in the 17th minute when Herrman came in control of bounding ball off a Kassidy Borden (Sr., Leesburg, Va.) free kick and flicked a shot towards the goal where Daunt re-directed it past the Black Knights' goalkeeper Sage Strohman, but wide of the net. Five minutes later, Riddle caught a high arching ball and snapped off a volley towards the near side, but Strohman leapt into action and dove horizontally to snag the shot.

The game continued at a 1-0 margin as halftime drew closer. With just under four minutes left in the opening stanza an Army cross into the box accidentally made contact with a Navy defender's arm and the referee blew his whistle for a hand ball. Unfortunately for the Mids, Kaelan Bradley converted the Black Knights' penalty shot and they went up 2-0 at 41:01.

Coming out of the locker room following the halftime intermission, Navy immediately took aim at cutting into its deficit as Emma Romano (So., Syosset, N.Y.) received a pass at the back post and one-timed a shot just wide of the goal in the 49th minute.

The Mids kept the pressure on the Black Knights' defense, though only were able to record a pair of shots over the next 15 minutes. On the one-off chances of Army on the attack, Gallagher posted saves in the 52nd and 64 minutes, respectively.

The hosts' persistence finally paid off in the 76th minute when Rylee Rives (Jr., Arlington, Texas) lofted a deep throw-in into the box. Without hesitating, Heaven received the ball and quickly re-directed it towards the penalty stripe where Herrmann knocked the ball down for Daunt, who controlled the pass and blasted a right-footed side past Strohman at 75:11.

"Jenna's goal was pure Jenna; work, work, work, work, work and find yourself in the right spot," commented Gabarra.

Trailing by one, the Mids left it all out on the field, but the Black Knights withstood each and every strike over the final 14-plus minutes and the game went final with a 2-1 score.

"I'm proud of our younger players," remarked Gabarra. "Ali Barrow and Lucy Gaines played some important minutes for us in their first-ever Army-Navy game. It was an intense game with little room for error; they did very well stepping up because that's not easy for freshmen.

"Marlee was great, she battled all game. Alexa took over, she was everywhere. They had a hard time stopping her whether it was on the ball or off the ball. Mimi [Abusham] had a good game as well, she was around so much of the action."

For the game, Navy out-shot Army, 17-16 with both teams recording seven shots on goal. The Mids also held an advantage in corner kicks, 5-3.

Saturday marked the final Army-Navy game for the Mids' Class of 2024.

"This is a great class of seniors," said Gabarra. "They've been extremely impactful both on and off the field; they all do well in the classroom and all do well in the hall. They're all great leaders. They're a great group so that's what makes this season so hard. They put so much into this program; they have done whatever it takes to put the program first. That's what hurts. When they look back they'll have pride over the fight they've shown. They continue to have accountability and continue to have standards. I'm very proud of them."

Navy will take a quick detour from Patriot League play this coming Tuesday with a non-conference matchup against Delaware State. The contest between the Mids and Hornets is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.

Saturday night's women's soccer game was the fourth Army-Navy contest of the weekend as men's soccer, men's cross country and women's country all went head-to-head with the Black Knights as part of the 2023-24 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA. The men's soccer match ended in a 1-1 tie on Friday night, while the cross country stars were split with Navy winning the men's race and Army taking the women's race on Saturday morning. Through six events so far this academic year, Army holds a 4-1-1 lead.