ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's soccer team turned in a well-rounded team effort on Thursday night in the final home non-conference game of its 2024 regular season as it came from behind to knock off Penn by a final score of 2-1. After the Quakers (0-4-3) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the third minute,
Amanda Graziano (Sr., Middlebury, Conn.) pulled the Mids (6-4-0) even in the 21st minute with a curling free kick before she came back in the 84th minute and placed a corner kick to the back post to the on-coming
Marlee Heaven (Jr., Rockville, Md.), who batted home the loose ball for the go-ahead goal.
Graziano's goal and assist effort was the third such performance in her career and pushes her into the team lead as she's scored four goals with three assists through 10 appearances in 2024. Heaven's game-winning goal is her second of the season and gives her five total goals for her junior campaign.
"Our team defending and organization was really good tonight," remarked head coach
Carin Gabarra. "We communicated well; we passed players on;Â we were in the right spots and we interchanged appropriately. That's something we've been working on so I'm really proud to see how well we did that tonight. We were really solid in the back with all six players that were out there tonight; they all made big impacts. The midfield really controlled the tempo of the play. We are creating chances and we'll put more of those away moving forward. That's a very good Penn team. With conference play right around the corner, that's a very good win for us."
The visitors put Navy on its heals almost immediately as Penn broke onto the scoreboard as Mila Maltby played a lead pass up to Isabella Zulli, who netted a goal at 2:50.
With the score 1-0 in favor of the Quakers, the Mids turned their attention to drawing even in short order. The always explosive
Alexa Riddle (Sr., Tomball, Texas) took aim at the goal in the 13th minute when she sprinted up the right wing and came into the box, though active goalkeeping by Penn's Annabel Austen saw her leap off her line and force Riddle's shot wide of the goal mouth. Riddle kept the pressure on the Quakers as just over two minutes later she lofted a cross to Heaven that deflected just off-target.
The Mids' relentless attack resulted in a free kick opportunity in the 21st minute when Graziano dribbled into the final third and was tackled from behind by Katerina Peroulas. Lining up a free kick from 20 yards away, Graziano curled her strike around the wall and into the lower corner of the goal to tie the score at 1-1 at 20:37.
The score stayed even into the halftime intermission as both goalkeepers were busy as Austen denied a
Chiara Cosenza (So., Westfield, N.J.) shot on goal in the 28th minute, while Stramrood turned aside a trio of Penn attempts, including a one-on-one look by Abbey Cook in the 37th minute.
The game continued into the second half with the score knotted at 1-1 as Stramrood made her fifth save of the contest with a stop of a Mila Maltby shot in the 59th minute before Austen sprawled out and grabbed a Riddle shot on goal in the 63rd minute.
The tight defending and strong goalkeeping continued down the stretch as Stramrood read a Hailey Adamsky volley to perfection in the 79th minute and caught the well-struck ball squarely. Austen was a thorn in Riddle's side once again in the 81st minute as she benefited from a collapsing defense that forced Riddle into rushed look.
Navy's constant challenging finally resulted in a go-ahead score in the 84th minute when Graziano swung a deep corner kick to the back post that was met by Heaven, who knocked in the ball to put the Mids up 2-1.
Effective defending and controlled possession over the final six-plus minutes helped Navy seal the victory and improve to 6-4 on the season.
"We did a good job of creating opportunities that led to set pieces," commented Gabarra. "Alexa [Riddle] was going one-v-one to the corners and Chiara [Cosenza] was defending and pressing high up top. We were winning balls back on the counter-press. We were creating the set pieces and we deserved the chances to put some of those away. I'm happy with the free-flowing play tonight. Our possession was good."
For the game, Navy out-shot Penn, 15-12, though the shots on goal statistic was tied 7-7. The host Mids held a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.
Stramrood posted the second-best saves total of her young career with six stops on Thursday night.
"Natasha was very solid. She doesn't make errors," said Gabarra. "Everyone believes in all of our goalkeepers; it doesn't matter which one is on the field, we have the utmost confidence in whoever is in there will get the job done."
Navy will conclude the non-conference portion of its schedule on Sunday with a road tilt at Temple. The Mids and Owls will go head-to-head beginning at 1 p.m. at the Temple Sports Complex.
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