ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy men's soccer team was on the losing end of a defensive battle Tuesday night, falling to George Washington by a 1-0 score at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
 
In the final game for the Midshipmen (1-3-2) before the start of Patriot League play, Navy dominated possession but suffered an early goal by the Revolutionaries (2-4-0) before pressuring its visitors for the final 70 minutes to no avail.
 
A slow start eventually gave way to GW posting a pair of chances, as Navy senior goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook had to dive and turn aside William Turner's kick from 19 yards out in the 12th minute, but the Revolutionaries capitalized on their next opportunity when a counter-attack led to an Alex Nicholson cross that reached Louis Crofts at the 16-yard mark, who rifled a one-time shot to the right of Holbrook at 21'.
 
Navy tried to answer right away at 23' when a GW foul set up sophomore Victor Saade to put a free kick on target, but Tom Macauley stopped the shot to keep the Mids off the board, while another Revs counter found Holbrook making his second save of the night just seconds later on Nico Medina. The Navy defenders were then able to block a Nicholson shot at the 25-minute mark, as the Mids held the GW in check for the rest of the half while pushing into the attacking end.
 
A revived offensive effort from the Mids kicked off the second half, as senior Charlies Kriel generated a shot that was blocked in the box at 51' while Saade forced another save out of Macauley at 53' and junior Jalen Grant also put a shot on goal at 57' that Macauley had to bat away. Another chance for Crofts off a counter in the 60th minute saw Holbrook keep the deficit to one, but two offside calls on the Mids at 73' and 74' negated a pair of offensive pushes and another Kriel shot was blocked by the GW defenders.
 
Holbrook once again stopped a GW counter at 80', denying Turner, while a wide Andrew Schug shot and a blocked Saade shot in the final 10 minutes proved to be the last chances for the Mids on the night.
 
Macauley closed the evening with three saves for his first shutout of the year, while Holbrook collected four saves in the Navy net.
 
Head Coach Tim O'Donohue Comments
"Obviously, this was a disappointing result but we keep getting better. We had over 60-percent of the possession tonight and gave up a counter goal. Credit to GW for defending for 45 minutes in the second half. We will be ready for Patriot League play on Saturday and everyone in the league is 0-0. We have a young group and have learned some hard lessons."
 
Match Notes
• George Washington evened the all-time series at 13-13-5.
• Navy's three corner kicks were a season low.
• Saade's three shots matched a career high for the sophomore.
 
Up Next
Navy will head to Bucknell on Saturday, Sept. 14 to kick off Patriot League action, with the Mids and Bison slated for a 1 p.m. start in Lewisburg, Pa.