WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Navy women's soccer team was unable to overcome a two-goal halftime deficit on Saturday night and ultimately lost their annual Star Match contest versus Army by a score of 4-0. Taking on a Black Knights (10-4-1, 4-2-1 PL) squad on their home pitch, Malek Stadium, the Mids (8-9-1, 2-4-1 PL) started out strong, matching the hosts in most facets of the game before a goal in the 26th minute turned the tide in Army's favor and from there the Black Knights were systemically able to edge away from the Mids over the remaining 64 minutes.

"We knew coming into the game, how they [Army] were going to play and for the first 25 minutes we limited them fairly well," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "At the same time offensively, we were creating some chances. After they got that initial goal, they were able to find more favorable positions and possessions. We did not do a good enough job in our response to that first goal. They were very committed to getting numbers in the box. We didn't do a very good job of marking those numbers. Many, if not all, soccer games are won with that grit and determination inside the 18.

"We came out in the second half down 2-0 and we knew that we had to get those goals back. We were taking risks getting numbers forward, but they caught us in transition twice."

The standing room only crowd at Malek Stadium was treated to tight back-and-forth action right from the start as each team registered a shot attempt over the opening eight minutes of play. Army's second shot, in the 11th minute, found its way on frame and Natasha Stramrood (Fr., Cypress, Texas) was up the task as she skied up to the upper left corner and snagged the Bella Cooke shot out of the air. The end-to-end action continued with a Rylee Rives (Sr., Arlington, Texas) shot followed up shortly with a Brigid Duffy shot on goal that Stramrood corralled in the 18th minute.

Navy's first shot on goal came in the 24th minute from a build up the right wing and culminated with a swinging cross from Alexa Riddle (Sr., Tomball, Texas) into the box for a one-timer volley by Marlee Heaven (Jr., Rockville, Md.), though Army's Sage Strohman denied the effort.

The catalyst for the Black Knights' eventual success came in the 26th minute when they converted off a chaotic corner kick possession that saw Grace Pohlidal on the receiving end of a Duffy cross to the back post and score at 25:47.

Trailing 1-0, the Mids immediately turned their attention to drawing even and nearly did, three minutes later when Riddle sprinted onto a long pass over the top of the Black Knights' defense and went one-on-one with Strohman. Taking aim at the low corner of the goal, Riddle put her shot on frame and saw it deflect through Strohman's arm, but roll away just wide of the goal.

Withstanding that potential game-tying look from Navy, Army ratcheted up its offensive pressure and rattled off four shots in quick succession between the 33rd and 36th minutes of play. Just three short minutes after that final shot, the Black Knights were back at it and saw them advance their lead out to 2-0 as Kaelan Bradley one-timed a bouncing ball into the back of the net at 38:08.

Coming out of the locker room down 2-0, Navy knew that it had to take a few more risks if it was to inch back into the game versus Army. Emma Romano (Jr., Syosset, N.Y.) was the first Mid to step forward for that task as she put on shot on goal in the 49th minute that was stopped by Strohman.

Unfortunately, Navy's efforts to find that goal to spark a comeback never came in the second half as it was unable to make consistent in-roads into the attacking third. Rives had the next best look at goal in the 60th minute when her shot rang off the crossbar.

Army salted away the victory with goals by Duffy at 58:42 and Hannah Pohlidal at 76:20.

For the game, Army out-shot Navy 26-7 with a 12-3 advantage in shots on goal. The host Black Knights also posted a significant 11-3 margin in corner kicks.

The Mids will turn their attention to the their final home game of the 2024 regular season next Friday, Oct. 24 versus the Holy Cross Crusaders. Following a pregame ceremony to celebrate Navy's senior class, kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.

After three more completed Star competitions on Saturday (men's/women's cross country and women's soccer), the 2024-25 Star Series presented by USAA stands at 6-2 in favor of Army. The next three chances for Stars, include the women's rugby match on Nov. 2 and men's/women's swimming & diving on Dec. 5.