WORCESTER, Mass. – With the offense pressing for the equalizer for most of the second half, the Navy men's soccer team (3-6-4, 2-3-1 PL) surrendered a pair of late goals in what ended up a 3-0 loss to Patriot League foe Holy Cross (3-9-3, 2-3-1 PL) on Sunday afternoon at the Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium in Worcester, Mass.
 
After a back-and-forth first half saw Ethan Gill bury a throw-in opportunity to give the Crusaders the lead in the 33rd minute, a push by the Midshipmen in the final 45 minutes led to several chances that nearly evened the contest but a counterattack from Holy Cross ended with Thomas Mancuso's insurance goal at 81', while James Ferraro put the game out of reach with the Crusaders' third tally in the 84th minute.
 
With the two sides trading chances early, Jake Williams generated a pair of off-target chances in the games opening minutes for Holy Cross and junior Bryce Robisch put Navy's first chance of the game on net to force a Tristan Stephani save, while senior goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook picked up the Mids' first save of the afternoon at 19' to deny Kevin Cull.
 
After junior A.J. Schuetz had a shot blocked at 26' and another saved a half-minute later, Holy Cross was able to gain composure and set itself up on a Cull thrown-in chance in the 33rd minute, with the ball being deflected up to Gill, who jumped and kicked in the game's opening goal. Following another Stephani stop on Schuetz at 35', the Crusaders ripped off a trio of shots over the net while senior Wasswa Robbins' off-balance shot in the box at 43' just went wide of the post.
 
Navy came out firing in the second half, with Stephani knocking down senior captain Charlie Kriel's shot off a free kick at 49', and Holbrook did his part on the other end by stopping Cull in the 53rd minute. Junior Andrew Schug then pushed for the equalizer with a shot to the right at 58' and Stephani then had to deny Schug at 63' and Schuetz at 67' to keep Holy Cross in front. Another Schuetz chance sailed high in the 75th minute while Schug nearly found the back of the net when he beat a defender at 77' and connected on a shot that just missed the far post as well as a streaking Keane Brown looking for the redirect.
 
Regaining momentum, Holy Cross was able to counter off a Navy clearance at 81' when Marques Nana-Sinkam sent a ball downfield to Evan Jones and Jones touched a pass to Mancus, whose cross-body shot beat Holbrook to the left side. With Navy still pressing, the Crusaders took advantage again in the 84th minute when Mancuso started a tick-tack-toe pass near the end line to Jones, who shoveled over to Ferraro for a sliding shot past Holbrook.
 
Stephani finished with six saves in the shutout, while Holbrook picked up two saves on the other end.
 
Head Coach Tim O'Donohue Comments
"It was an unfortunate first goal to give up off a set piece, but we pushed everyone forward after to try to equalize and we played well for much of the game. Andrew had a great opportunity to equalize and then we gave up a counter goal there that was a killer. The score doesn't reflect the game we played but now we have to have a winning performance at Lehigh next week."
 
Match Notes
• Navy is now 14-16-6 in the all-time series with Holy Cross.
• The Crusaders snapped the Mids' four-game unbeaten streak in the series.
 
Up Next
Navy will travel to Bethlehem, Pa., on Oct. 26 for a 6 p.m. match against Lehigh.