ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's soccer team turned a strong 90-minute effort and withstood a persistent and talented attack from St. John's to come away with a 0-0 non-conference draw on Sunday afternoon. After opening its 2023 season with a fast-paced and pressing contest against Charleston Southern on Thursday, Navy (1-0-1) showcased a completely different side of its makeup in front of its home fans on Sunday as the Mids' defense took center stage in its shutout performance against the Red Storm (1-0-1) at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
 
Mattie Gallagher (Sr., Gilbertsville, Pa.) led Navy's defensive effort with four individual saves and numerous more intercepted or batted away crosses and corner kicks from St. John's. The Red Storm kept the pressure on the Mids with six corner kicks on Sunday.

"We purposely challenge ourselves early against very good teams and St. John's is a very well-coached, organized and disciplined team," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "They're going to be very hard for anyone to score on this season; their rotation, shaping and knowledge of the game is top-notch. It was good for us to see and compete against a team like St. John's early on. I like the heart and passion that we showed. We fought throughout the game and rotated a lot of players in. We had 20 players today gain experience against a very good team and see time in a lot of pressure-filled situations. This all should pay off moving forward. We'll continue to work on some of the little things like ball movement, our speed of play, decision-making under pressure and our fitness. We'll get better from a game like this.

"We were pretty solid defensively today. There was a lot of pressure on our back four and our goalkeeper. Their [St. John's] services were as good as I've seen; left-footed, right-footed; they were on the money throughout the game, they created havoc. It's tough to defend with those level of services kept coming. That was also another thing to take away from today was gaining experience against a well-rounded and dangerous attack." 
 
The action was controlled in the midfield and defensive third throughout the majority of game on Sunday as each team was only recorded one shot on goal during the initial 25 minutes. Navy's first look on frame was a well-developed play up the wing as Marlee Heaven (So., Rockville, Md.) whipped a cross towards the 18-yard box where Amanda Graziano (Jr., Middlebury, Conn.) flicked a header into the box to Jenna Daunt (Sr., Haymarket, Va.), who volleyed a shot into the waiting arms of St. John's goalie Maria O'Sullivan.
 
The Mids were able to assert themselves into the offensive flow a bit more in the closing minutes of the first half and nearly broke through onto the scoreboard in the 35th minute when Kat Healey (Sr., King George, Va.) sent a dangerous corner kick into the box and after some frantic attempts to clear the ball, Isabella Romano (So., Syosset, N.Y.) came into control of the ball and ripped a strong shot that sailed just high of the net.
 
Coming out of halftime knotted at 0-0, both teams took aim at netting the first goal of the game. Starting with the ball for the opening kickoff, Navy nearly found pay dirt less than 30 seconds in as Alexa Riddle (Jr., Tomball, Texas) slipped a crisp cross into the box where an on-coming Daunt lined up for a shot, that was unfortunately blocked right after contact.
 
Following that initial scoring chance for the Mids, the visitors controlled much of the ensuing 25 minutes with all five of the games' recorded shots, as well as all four corner kicks. Gallagher and her defensive backfield mates: Kassidy Borden (Sr., Leesburg, Va.), Chloe Dawson (Sr., Fairfax, Va.), Tatum Kelly (Jr., Pinehurst, N.C.) and Kieffer Williamson (Sr., Oakton, Va.) with reserve minutes coming from Ali Barrow (Fr., Alexandria, Va.) and Emma Romano (So., Syosset, N.Y.) withstood all of those tests, including Gallagher twice defending corner kicks herself via a punch-away in the 71st minute and a two-handed snag in the 76th.
 
The final 14 minutes of action at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility saw both teams go down swinging as Navy's Hannah Mulholland (Fr., Chandler, Ariz.) dribbled around a pair of St. John's defenders in the 78th minute and took aim with a shot before seeing her attempt blocked. The Red Storm's most dangerous look was a Jordyn Levy dribble and drive up the left wing into the box where Gallagher charged off her line and met the shot straight into her upper body. Navy's final look to break the 0-0 score came in the 90th minute when Dawson drove a shot towards goal that missed high.
 
In the scoreless draw, St. John's outshot Navy, 13-8 with a 4-1 edge in shots on goal. In a game filled with physical challenges, the teams combined for 21 fouls, 11 for the Mids and 10 for the Red Storm.
 
The shutout was the 14th of Gallagher's career and moves her into a tie for sixth all-time with Dayton Wetherby (2013-16).

"This was a good opening weekend," said Gabarra in closing. "We come away undefeated at home, which is always important. I challenged our team to start strong today and play a complete 90; I think we were pretty close to that." 

Navy will be back in action on Thursday, August 24 when it takes a short trip to College Park for an inter-state showdown versus the University of Maryland. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Ludwig Field.