ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Coming off a strong run of non-conference play, the Navy women's soccer team opened Patriot League action with a complete 90-minute effort against Lehigh and came away with a 1-0 win at home on Friday night. Scoreless going into halftime, the Mids (5-1-3, 1-0-0 PL) bolted ahead in the 49th minute when Alexa Riddle (Jr., Tomball, Texas) made the Mountain Hawks (3-2-3, 0-1-0 PL) pay for a turnover with a quick one-timer goal.

Senior goalkeeper Mattie Gallagher (Gilbertsville, Pa.) backstopped Navy to the clean sheet victory at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility with three saves.

"It's not a surprise that when you come into conference play, the intensity, the level of play, the competitiveness and the commitment goes up," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "I feel that we started really well tonight. We had a lot of good belief. We possessed the ball well. We did a good job of playing balls over the top and finding feet. Our attack was pretty good. Lehigh is an excellent team; they're going to have a really good season. It's always great to win your opener.
 
"Defensively, we were very organized and very disciplined. We gave our team a game plan and they did a very good job of executing it. We played very compact and everyone did their job defending. It was a great team defensive effort and I'm very proud of that."
 
The game opened with a heavy influence of midfield and defensive play as the teams combined for just four total shots for the initial 20 minutes of play. Lehigh challenged Navy first in the 18th minute when the Mountain Hawks went back-to-back with shots, including a Faith Dobosiewicz attempt that forced Gallagher into action with a save.

Navy started gaining more traction in the offensive end in the second half of the opening period with Riddle testing Lehigh's Maggie Ousouljoglou in the 24th minute. Jenna Daunt (Sr., Haymarket, Va.) peppered the Mountain Hawks' goalkeeper in quick succession in the 32nd and 35th minutes with consecutive shots on goal. Her second shot was extra dangerous as Riddle drew attention to the right wing before slotting a pass into the six-yard box to Daunt, who didn't miss a beat and ripped a one-timer shot to the near corner of the goal only to have Ousouljoglou kick-save the shot away at the last second.

The Mids had one more look at the goal in the closing moments of the first half as Kat Healey (Sr., King George, Va.) nearly connected with Rylee Rives (Jr., Arlington, Texas) on a corner kick. Possessing the bouncing ball, Rives toe-poked the ball towards the upper-90, but once again the Mountain Hawks' goalkeeper denied the scoring chance.

Tied coming out the locker room after halftime, Navy's dynamic attacking trio of Marlee Heaven (So., Rockville, Md.), Amanda Graziano (Jr., Middlebury, Conn.) and Riddle made Lehigh pay for an error in its defensive third. After pressure by Heaven turned the Mountain Hawks over 30 yards from goal, Riddle set Graziano for a shot that was initially blocked, but an alert Riddle charged in on the loose ball and blasted a blistering shot into the back of the net at 48:30.

Over the next 42 minutes, Navy's defense stood up against a versatile and athletic Lehigh attack that was constantly buzzing on the attacking side of the field. Though the Mountain Hawks were active with the ball only one of their final six shots were on goal, a Hope Flanegin effort from long distance in the 88th minute. The hosts Midshipmen also withstood four Mountain Hawk corner kick opportunities in the second half as they tried to draw even.

With Lehigh's offense held at bay, Navy had three more looks at goal to post an insurance score though Ousouljoglou made saves in all three attempts to hold the 1-0 margin.

For the game, both teams recorded 13 shots, though Navy put eight of those shots on goal versus just three for Lehigh. The corner kick statistic was even, as well as both squads had four restarts from the corner.

"Every win is important in the Patriot League," said Gabarra in closing. "Every team will challenge you. There is so much parity in the league; any team is capable of winning on any given night. Every game matters. To win our Patriot League opener at home is extremely important."

Navy will continue early Patriot League action on Wednesday with a road tilt at Loyola. Kickoff between the Mids and Greyhounds is set for 7 p.m. at the Ridley Athletic Complex.