ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Down 2-0 with 16 minutes left, the Navy men's soccer team rattled off three unanswered goals to post a 3-2 comeback victory over in-state rival Loyola on Saturday afternoon at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
 
Closing out a three-game homestand and extending its unbeaten streak to four-straight contests, the Midshipmen rally moved the squad to 3-4-4 overall and 2-1-1 in the Patriot League standings, while the Greyhounds fell to 1-6-3 on the season and 1-2-1 in league play.
 
After Caden Stafford put Loyola up just before halftime at 39' and buried his second goal of the afternoon in the 73rd minute, Navy started its surge to victory when junior Andrew Schug set up classmate A.J. Schuetz just over a minute later. With junior Jalen Grant's equalizing header going in at 77', Schug completed the comeback with a tap-in at 82', giving the Mids three goals in a stretch of 7:35.
 
With both goalkeepers making saves in the opening 20 minutes, as senior Pierce Holbrook stopped Loyola's Sean McEvoy at 8' and Dylan van der Walt denying Schug at 18', Loyola struck first in the 39th minute when Chris Ogor's cross upfield found Stafford streaking into the box, with Stafford heading the pass into the right corner for the opening score.
 
Despite an early push to answer from Schug at 52', the Mids needed Holbrook to make a pair of back-to-back diving saves in the 55th minute when he stopped Jake Sweeney's wide-angle shot and Ogor's ensuing rebound attempt. Van der Walt kept the lead intact at 59' when he kick-saved Schuetz's one-on-one chance, while Holbrook stopped Brandon Meminger at 65'.
 
Loyola added to its lead at 73' when Richie Nichols deflected a Navy pass to Stafford, who raced in to the 17-yard mark and ripped a shot to the low right side and past Holbrook. Navy quickly responded when freshman Keane Brown's clearance halfway down field hit off a Loyola defender in the box and right to Schug, who fed it to Schuetz in front of the penalty mark, as Schuetz then took two steps, turned and fired the ball into the top-right corner.
Keeping the pressure on, back-to-back corner kicks for Navy saw the second try from sophomore Victor Saade loft into the box and headed home by Grant in the 77th minute for the junior defender's first collegiate goal. Defending two Loyola free kicks, the Mids then turned upfield again at 82', with senior captain Charlie Kriel getting the ball on the wing and crossing a pass into the box that went through Van der Walt's hand at the six-yard line, where Schug touched the ball through a defender's legs and into the open net.
 
Holbrook then had to collect a final chance from Stafford off a Loyola corner at 84' to preserve the come-from-behind victory, ending the day with five saves to Van der Walt's two stops.
 
Head Coach Tim O'Donohue Comments
"Today was a really gutsy effort from the team. I was really happy with our performance in the second half and this is truly a character win for Navy Soccer against an excellent Loyola program. It feels good to extend this streak to four games and our eyes now shift to Friday night in Chester."
 
Match Notes
• Navy evened the all-time series with Loyola at 6-6-4, extending its unbeaten streak against the Greyhounds to three games.
• Saturday marked Holbrook's fourth game this season with five-or-more saves.
• Navy is 2-0-1 when Schug and Schuetz score in the same game for their careers.
• The goals were the seventh of both Schuetz and Schug's careers.
 
Up Next
Navy will head to Chester, Pa., on Oct. 11 for Army-Navy Cup XIII. The Mids and Black Knights are set for a 7 p.m. opening kick at Subaru Park.