ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's soccer team rounded out the home portion of its 2024 regular season schedule with a dramatic 1-0 victory over Holy Cross on Friday afternoon. In day meant to honor its senior class, it was junior Marlee Heaven (Rockville, Md.), who came through with the late fireworks as she slotted home the game-winning goal in the 84th minute at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.

Important playoff position for the upcoming Patriot League Tournament was up for grabs on Friday between the Mids (9-9-1, 3-4-1 PL) and Crusaders (5-11-1, 2-5-1 PL) as both teams came into the game tied for seventh place in the league table. Following the result of the contest, Navy has moved into fifth place for the moment with four more games around the league scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

"We knew coming into this game that it was going to be a battle. A lot of factors came into play today; you had two teams that needed a win to stay alive, plus it was senior night for us," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "I liked that we stayed fairly composed, even into the final minutes. It was hard to keep possession in a game like this; it was very north-south, with a lot of tackles, a lot of fouls for both teams and a lot of fighting for balls in the air. We kept that composure and belief right to the end.

"We had to get three points [for a win] today. I'm super proud of Kayana for charging down the field and stopping a breakaway; that's a tackle for the ages, we'll never forget that. I'm also really happy with the composure that Marlee showed on that goal; if she would have hit it the first time, they would have blocked her shot, but she knew to keep possession, spin away and finish that a little more calmly. Everyone out there battled. It was such a hard-fought and physical game, but we stayed in and left it all out there for our seniors; I'm so proud of that."

The action in the first half was quite even with the teams combining for just nine shots, five for Navy and four for Holy Cross. The Crusaders recorded their first and only shot on goal of the opening stanza just 82 seconds in as Adi Botet re-directed a cross onto frame, though Natasha Stramrood (Fr., Cypress, Texas) was up for the task and snagged the shot.

Holy Cross increased its advantage in shots taken with two back-to-back attempts that were blocked by Navy defenders in the 10th minute. The Mids' recorded their first shot on goal of the half in the 20th minute when Chiara Cosenza (So., Westfield, N.J.) put a mid-range free kick into the waiting arms of Julia Walsh, the Crusaders' goalie.

The visitors continued to pester Navy's defense with their fourth and fifth corner kicks in quick succession in the 29th and 30th minutes, though Stramrood was active off her line and punched both crosses away from danger.

The Mids' best build and look at breaking the scoreless deadlock came in the 37th minute when Cosenza crossed the ball towards the goal mouth and Rylee Rives (Sr., Arlington, Texas) headed a shot just off-target.

Coming out of the locker room knotted at 0-0, Navy flipped a switch and dominated the possession and scoring opportunities throughout the second 45-minute period. Right off the bat, Emma Romano (Jr., Syosset, N.Y.) and Cosenza tested Walsh with respective shots on goal in the 47th and 50th minutes of action. This duo nearly connected for the host's first goal ten minutes later when Romano whipped a cross into the box, that Cosenza headed over the crossbar.

With less than 20 minutes of action left in regulation, the pace picked up for both sides and Holy Cross had consecutive strong looks at netting the go-ahead goal denied. In the 70th minute, Kayana Adlam (Fr., Orlando, Fla.) was the hero as a broken play in the middle of the field resulted in the Crusaders' Ava Graham with over 45 yards of clear space to the goal and not a Midshipmen defender in sight before Adlam caught her at the top of the 18-yard box after finding that next gear in an all-out sprint. Stramrood matched her fellow classmate's clutch demeanor and batted away Sydney Baldwin's shot on goal two minutes later.

With Holy Cross held at bay offensively for the final 15 minutes of the contest, Navy was locked in on finding that go-ahead score. In a chaotic possession in the 78th minute, the Mids cracked back-to-back shots on goal as Amanda Graziano's (Sr., Middlebury, Conn.) initial effort was saved by Walsh before Heaven quickly put the rebound back on frame, though a Crusader defender deflected the ball away from the gaping goal mouth for a team save.

The host's constant pressure finally found a crack at 83:22 when a series of ping-pong passes and defensive ricochets ended with Heaven in control of a bouncing ball inside the six-yard box. Once in her possession, the junior calmly flicked her shot past Walsh for the go-ahead score.

Holy Cross was unable to muster an equalizer over the final 6:38 of action and Navy earned a massive three points in the Patriot League standings with a 1-0 victory on Senior Day.
 
For the game, Navy out-shot Holy Cross, 17-6 with a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Crusaders had a substantial 7-1 edge in corner kicks.

Stramrood finished her second career shutout with two saves.

Prior to the game, the program recognized the careers and efforts of its Class of 2025; Emma Frommelt, Amanda Graziano, Alexa Riddle, Rylee Rives and team captain Tatum Kelly. Together through three-plus seasons, Navy's senior class has been a part of 37 wins and Patriot League Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022.

"I really love the leadership from our senior class," commented Gabarra. "They always talk about leading holistically. They really care about academics, athletics, service, our character, our team culture and who we are both in and out of the team setting. They want to bring all of that to this program. They're tremendous role models and mentors for all of those factors. They're each incredible athletes in their own right, incredible leaders and just overall incredible people. They're all going to go on to have incredible careers. I know that everyone in their hearts wanted to play for them today."

Navy will turn its attention to its regular season finale next Wednesday night on the road at Lafayette. Kickoff between the Mids and Leopards is set for 7 p.m. in Easton, Pa. That contest will have a significant impact on the 2024 Patriot League Tournament as both teams are among the pack fighting for the final spots in the playoffs.

  Patriot League Standings (through Oct. 25)
  1. Boston University: 4-0-3 (15 pts) ... at American (10/26)
  2. Bucknell: 5-2 (15 pts) ... at Lafayette (10/26)
  3. Army: 4-2-1 (13 pts) ... at Colgate (10/26)
  4. Colgate: 3-2-2 (11 pts) ... vs. Army (10/26)
  5. Navy: 3-4-1 (10 pts)
  t6. Loyola: 2-2-3 (9 pts) ... vs. Lehigh (10/26)
  t6. Lafayette: 2-2-3 (9 pts) ... vs. Bucknell (10/26)
  8. American: 2-4-1 (7 pts) ... vs. Boston (10/26)
  9. Holy Cross: 2-5-1 (7 pts)
  10. Lehigh: 1-5-1 (4 pts) ... at Loyola (10/26)