ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Three different goal-scorers and a seven-save shutout from senior Pierce Holbrook helped the Navy men's soccer team (1-1-2) secure its first win of the 2024 season, notching a 3-0 victory over Niagara (0-4-0) on Monday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
 
A three-point effort from senior Wasswa Robbins capped off an evening that also saw freshman Wyatt Stevens and junior Tommy Lockhart tally goals while Holbrook registered his second-straight clean sheet, extending the Midshipmen's unbeaten streak to three games.
 
The win also clinched the Navy-UMBC Classic title for the Mids (based on goal differential), as Holbrook was named the Tournament MVP while Robbins, Stevens, junior Jalen Grant and sophomore Victor Saade were selected to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Both teams traded chances in the first 16 minutes, with Navy generating two shots in the opening two minutes while Niagara's Felix Kogler forced an early save from Holbrook at 13'. Navy broke through in the 20th minute when Stevens was fed a pass from fellow freshman Duncan Sullivan, broke towards the middle of the field and fired a shot from just outside the box that beat Niagara's Jamie Barry to the left post to give him his team-leading second goal of the season.
 
Niagara nearly countered in the 24th minute as Gerard Lopez Forner picked up a pass in the box and shot from seven yards out, but Holbrook dove to his left to turn it away. The Mids then put up another streak at the attacking end for the next 10 minutes, racking up four shots and five corner kicks in that span before Niagara turned the tables with three-straight chances including another stop of Lopez Forner at the 37' mark. After a quick restart off a Keane Brown throw-in found Robbins in the attacking third with the ball, he crossed a pass that Lockhart was able to corral and sneak a shot past a sprawling Barry in the 43rd minute, giving Lockhart his first collegiate goal.
 
The two sides continued the back-and-forth play early in the second half, but the Purple Eagles started to push following a Kogler free kick from 24 yards away that Holbrook had to dive for and bat wide, forcing Navy to block three shots. Navy finally got back on track when Sullivan forced Barry to turn away a shot out of bounds, setting up a free kick at 73' that eventually found its way to Robbins, who raced towards the goal line and put an arching shot on net that found the top right corner for the senior's first collegiate goal.
 
Holbrook kept up his impressive night by stopping Dominic Cintra at 74' and batting wide a Lopez Forner bicycle kick at 76', picking up his seventh save of the game when he one-handed an end-line shot from Alberto Sanchez Cervera in the 79th minute, while a Luca Buscaglia shot went off the crossbar in the final minute to preserve the shutout.
 
Coach Tim O'Donohue Comments
"It was good to finally get our first win of the year. I was happy to get goals in transition and post another clean sheet. Pierce is playing at a very high level right now and the offensive contributions across the board helped back him up. It was good to win the Navy-UMBC Classic for the first time in a few years as well while facing quality competition."
 
Match Notes
• Navy is now 2-0 in the all-time series with Niagara.
• Holbrook has now posted two-or-more consecutive shutouts on five occasions in his career.
• Holbrook has now tallied six-or-more saves in eight different games for his career.
• Robbins' three-point effort is the most by a Navy player since Cristian Coelho, David Jackson and A.J. Schuetz all tallied a goal and assist against UMBC on Oct. 3, 2023.
• Navy's 13 shots were a season high.
 
Up Next
Navy heads to Longwood for a 1 p.m. match on Saturday, Sept. 7.