Hamilton, N.Y. – Despite tallying a 16-5 shot advantage, the fifth-seeded Navy men's soccer team suffered a 2-0 loss to fourth-seeded Colgate in the quarterfinal round of the 2023 Patriot League Tournament, as Aidan Davock scored a brace for Colgate on Saturday evening at Beyer-Small '76 Field.
 
The Midshipmen close the season with a 6-8-5 overall record, while the Raiders improve to 8-9-2 on the campaign, earning a trip to No. 1-seed Boston University for Tuesday's semifinal round.
 
After sophomore A.J. Schuetz rifled a shot wide left for Navy in the third minute, Colgate grabbed an early lead at 14' when Aidan Wright crossed a ball upfield and into the box, where Aidan Davock put a header past junior goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook.
 
The Mids nearly tied it in the 19th minute when sophomore Andrew Schug's header went just over the crossbar, while a scramble at 21' led to Schug putting a shot wide through traffic. An injury to Colgate's starting keeper, Oliver Townend, led to Andrew Cooke taking over, grabbing a pair of Navy set pieces before diving to stop junior Noah Ward at 40' to keep the Raiders ahead at the half.
 
Opening up the second half, a long-range shot from junior Connor Walcott in the 50th minute went right at Cooke, while Holbrook made a diving save on Wright at 51' off a corner kick and stopped a deflected Davock shot in the 56th minute. Navy continued to press, as a David Jackson blocked shot led to Walcott putting a long-range rebound on net at 59' but Cooke made the diving stop, while a Charlie Kriel shot sailed high a minute later and Cooke saved a curving Ward shot at 64'.
 
Another Navy free kick led to another Walcott chance at 69', but his shot just missed the top right corner, and the Colgate defense blocked a pair of kicks in the 76th minute. Fighting to gain possession back, the Raiders were able to prevent any more Navy shots over the final 16 minutes, while Davock took advantage of a defensive breakdown in the 90th minute to get by Holbrook and tap in her second goal of the game.
 
Holbrook tallied two saves in his final game of the season, while Cooke made four saves to combine with Townend for the shutout.
 
Head Coach Tim O'Donohue Comments
"We played very well tonight from beginning to end. Unfortunately, we didn't have timely scoring and they had one chance until the final minute that they were able to finish that early opportunity. It's a disappointing result, but I am proud of this entire group and the resilience they showed all year. Most importantly, I want to thank our six seniors, who all had phenomenal careers over four years at Navy and left it all out on the field tonight."
 
Match Notes
• Colgate now leads the all-time series with Navy at 16-15-6, as Saturday snapped the Mids's four-game undefeated streak over the Raiders.
• This marked Navy's first loss to Colgate in the postseason, as the Mids are now 2-1-1 all-time against the Raiders in Patriot League Tournament play.
• Navy is now 8-8-5 in the Patriot League Tournament all-time, going 3-3-4 when playing on the road.
• Walcott's five shots on the evening were a career high.
• Jackson's 23 points and nine goals on the season were the most by a Navy player since 2014.
• Saturday marked the final game in a Navy uniform for Jackson, Jason Aoyama, Cristian Coelho, Jake Granados, Baba Kallie and captain Zach Wagner.
• The six-man senior class posted a 29-21-15 overall record over the last four seasons.