BALTIMORE – In a rivalry that has seen six of its last seven matchups go down to the wire with one-goal or overtime decisions, Navy and Loyola once again battled in a tight contest on Wednesday night at the Ridley Athletic Complex. The host Greyhounds (7-2, 2-0 PL) took advantage of a defensive miscue deep in the Mids' (5-2-3, 1-1 PL) zone to knock home an opportunistic goal in the 13th minute on their way to a 1-0 victory.

"It's tough to play an away match midweek; we did not come out with the collective energy we needed," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "Loyola is a very organized and disciplined defensive team; it's hard to score goals on them. After giving up a goal fairly early, we pushed forward with numbers, but were unable to create quality scoring chances. We needed to be better solving and passing out of their high pressure, as well as being better in possession."
 
The action opened with Loyola on the attack as the Greyhounds pressed up and were twice called for offsides in the initial six minutes. That pressure quickly resulted in a goal in the 13th minute as the Mids were unsettled on defense and misplayed a ball that was intercepted by the Greyhounds and crossed swiftly into the box for a Delaney DeMartino header shot and score at 12:38.

Less than two minutes later, Navy looked for the equalizer as Katie Herrmann (Sr., Charlotte, N.C.) squared up a shot and forced Loyola's goalkeeper Paige Sim into action with a save.

Mattie Gallagher did her best to keep it a one-goal margin for the Mids over the ensuing 30 minutes of the opening half as she was called upon three more times to deny quality looks by the Greyhounds.

At the half, Loyola was outshooting Navy, 8-3 with a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal.

Navy started the second half with its eyes locked on netting the tying goal. In the 49th minute, Alexa Riddle (Jr., Tomball, Texas) curled a cross off the right wing and the ball was immediately deflected out to Amanda Graziano (Jr., Middlebury, Conn.), who sprinted up and one-timed a shot that sailed just wide of the goal.

The north-south action continued deeper into the second period as Gallagher sprawled out horizontally to her right to bat away a dangerous Baylee DeSmit shot on goal in the 65th minute.

Just over three minutes later, Emma Romano (So., Syosset, N.Y.) chested down a pass to Marlee Heaven (So., Rockville, Md.), who sped past her defender towards goal, but saw the ball bounce away late before she was able to connect for the shot.

Holding a 1-0 lead, the already defensive-first Loyola squad tightened its shape and forced Navy into even tougher possessions, that resulted in just two shots over the final 20 minutes of action. The Mids were equally adapt on defense and stonewalled the Greyhounds, as well as the game went final with a 1-0 score.

For the game, Loyola outshot Navy, 17-7 and held a 6-2 edge in shots on goal.

Gallagher was strong in goal for the Mids as she turned aside five Greyhound attempts.

"All of the teams in the Patriot League have really improved this season," said Gabarra in closing. "This is shaping up to be a tight race to the finish. We need to identify and evaluate the positives and negatives from this game and get better from this loss. Our response will dictate how we play next. We are very confident in our players with this challenge."

Navy will be back in action on Saturday on the road with a 4:30 p.m. date with the Colgate Raiders in Hamilton, N.Y.