HOUSTON, Texas – The Navy women's soccer team wrapped up its two-game road trip to Texas with a 2-1 loss at Rice on Sunday afternoon. Dealing with stifling temperatures that made it feel like 106 and seven graduate or seniors in the Owls' starting lineup, the Mids found themselves in a back-and-forth battle at Holloway Field that saw Rice (2-0) go up 1-0 in the 25th minute before Navy (0-2) fired back less than three minutes with a game-tying tally by Hannah Mulholland (So., Chandler, Ariz.). A transition goal in the 71st minute by the Owls stood up as the game-winner.

"Wow, those were some difficult and dangerous playing conditions," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "I'm proud of our team for pulling every ounce of energy and competitiveness out of their bodies and mind today. There wasn't any wind, the real feel was every bit of 105 degrees.

"The score is a pretty accurate reflection of today's game. We had a variety of good individual performances, but had some lapses. We have to put more pressure on opposing goalkeepers, our looks weren't challenging enough."

Early on, the Mids controlled the majority of the possession and chances in the attacking third, but were stonewalled in the shot department over the first 12 minutes. While struggling with long-lasting possessions, the Owls registered the first shot on goal of the game when Leah Chancey hit her cross long and onto frame. With not much pace on it, Talley Applewhite (Jr., Midlothian, Va.) snared the ball for a save. Seven minutes later, she made her second save of the contest as she turned aside a Mikala Furuto attempt.

The momentum that Rice had been building over the previous 10 minutes paid off in the 25th minute when the hosts intercepted a goal kick and quickly turned the ball around into the offensive third where an odd-man rush resulted in a square lay-off from Jules Johnston and Allie Love to Kallie McKinney, who one-timed her shot into the back of the net at 24:47.

Down, but not out, Navy had an immediate response as Mimi Abusham (Jr., Los Alamitos, Calif.) lofted a long throw-in into the 18-yard box and after a slight deflection off a Rice defender, Mulholland secured the ball and ripped a shot in the lower left corner past the Owls' goalkeeper at 27:26.

Applewhite made sure the 1-1 score stayed as is as she blocked a point-blank shot by Johnston in the 37th minute as the Rice attacker caught a through ball behind Navy's defense and flicked a shot on goal. In total, Applewhite was credited with five saves in her 45 minutes of first-half action.

Coming out of locker room knotted at 1-1, the Owls were on a mission and aggressive as they put two shots on goal against the Mids' new goalkeeper Natasha Stramrood. The freshman back-stop was up to the task and made two saves in quick succession. Navy's best look during this early run of second-half play came just over two minutes later when Emma Romano (Jr., Syosset, N.Y.) dribbled up from her defensive position and unleashed an initial shot that was blocked before recovering the loose ball and launching a shot just over the crossbar.

The Mids kept their foot on the offensive pedal as in the 58th minute, Amanda Graziano (Sr., Middlebury, Conn.) controlled a bounding ball following her corner kick and dribbled in off the wing before ripping a shot on goal, that forced Faith Hutchins to leap up and bat away for her first official save of the game.

Rice netted the go-ahead goal when it caught Navy's defense too high during a transition in the 71st minute. After intercepting a pass near midfield, Naija Bruckner and Taylor Rish connected a pair of quick passes together before playing Natalie Gorji into space for a one-on-one. Realizing she need to force the action with 30 yards of free space, Stramrood sprinted in off her line and forced Gorji to chip her late. Unfortunately for the Mids, the shot dropped into the gapping goal mouth to make it 2-1.
 
Neither team sat back over the final 19 minutes as Rice peppered Stramrood with four more shots on goal, while Navy tested Hutchins with two additional shots on goal, one by Marlee Heaven (Jr., Rockville, Md.) and one by Jordan Townsend (Jr., Marriottsville, Md.). Stramrood's effort was especially noteworthy as in a run of 20 seconds Rice's Leah Chancey flicked a header on goal that ricocheted back out into danger before the follow-up was shot off the post and the next two attempts deflected off Townsend and Stramrood before the freshman goalkeeper finally possessed the ball.

For the game, Rice out-shot Navy, 21-12 with a 14-4 advantage in shots on goal. The host Owls also recorded 11 of the game's 15 total corner kicks.
In goal, Stramrood turned aside a career-high seven shots on goal, while Applewhite made five saves in the first half.

"Overall, this was a good first weekend to see what our 2024 team could be capable of," said Gabarra in closing. "We had nearly all of our freshmen get their feet wet into the collegiate game and had numerous returners step into larger roles. We'll have to deal with teams zeroing in on Alexa so we'll have to vary our looks on offense to get her the ball, as well as lean on other players to take that next step."

After a flight back to Maryland later Sunday, Navy will return to friendly confines of the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility for the first of four straight home games. First up is a Thursday afternoon tilt versus Sacred Heart with kickoff set for 4 p.m.