BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Navy women's soccer team turned in a complete 90-minute effort over Lehigh in the Patriot League-opening game for both squads. The Mids scored early and often with two goals before the 20-minute mark before notching an insurance goal in the 61st minute to earn a 3-0 victory over the Mountain Hawks at the Ulrich Sports Complex.

Lauren Toms (Fr., Fairplay, Md.) and Chiara Cosenza (So., Westfield, N.J.) tallied Navy's first two goals in the first half before Alexa Riddle (Sr., Tomball, Texas) put away the team's third score in the second half. Ande Swan (Fr., Sugar Land, Texas) played a leading role in the facilitation for the Mids on Friday night as she assisted on both of Toms and Riddle's goals. Natasha Stramrood (Fr., Cypress, Texas) was stellar in goal for Navy with seven saves.

"Tonight was a great way to start the conference season," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "We got contributions from up-and-down our roster and excellent play at all three levels. Our midfield was very organized and aggressive; they were constantly winning the first balls and if not the first ball, they were fighting through and winning the second ball. They also did a great job of starting our attack up the field. Our offense created quality looks and turned that into goals. Defensively, we were stout for all 90 minutes and limited their [Lehigh] high percentage looks. Natasha and our defense did a great job of controlling them down the stretch, whether it was stopping shots on goal or grabbing crosses."

The action at Lehigh started out fast and furious with each team putting a shot on goal over the opening eight minutes of play. A chaotic cluster after a Navy corner kick in the seventh minute resulted with Rylee Rives (Sr., Arlington, Texas) connecting for the game's first shot on goal before Lehigh flipped the field and built up its first shot on goal as Macy McCaullum lofted a long, non-threatening ball on frame a minute later.

The Mids kept up the end-to-end action and recorded the first score of Friday night's contest when Swan slotted a pass from the near corner of the six-yard box untouched to the waiting Toms at the back post for a one-time shot and goal at 9:30.

Navy continued the offensive pressure as in the 18th minute, Cosenza received a pass and posted up a Mountain Hawk defender before drawing a foul at the top edge of the 18-yard box, causing the ref to immediately point to the penalty spot. Moments later, Cosenza calmly walked up to the ball and deposited her penalty shot into the back of the net at 17:31.

Later on in the first half with the score 2-0, Stramrood made sure the Mids' two-goal lead stood up as Carly Keane's shot in the 38th minute had eyes for the far corner of the goal, but Stramrood sprawled out for a completely horizontal save to deny the attempt.

The end-to-end pace that marked much of the first half continued into the second stanza as a Navy attack inside the box was short-circuited in the 50th minute before Lehigh raced down the field and constructed its own threatening attack that concluded with another Keane shot on goal, that forced Stramrood into action.

The Mids added an important insurance goal in 61st minute when Swan bodied a Mountain Hawk player off the ball and quickly laid off a short pass to Rives, who one-time a ball over the top to Riddle, who raced up and went in the final 30-plus yards with just her and the goalkeeper. Riddle's shot officially went in for a 3-0 lead at 60:06.

Navy's defense closed out its first league win and second shutout of 2024 with a strong final 30 minutes at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Stramrood led from the back with four saves during this span, including a trio of stops on shots by Aminah Baruwa in the 78th, 87th and 89th minutes.

For the game, Lehigh out-shot Navy, 17-10 with a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal. The hosts also held a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.

Stramrood collected her first collegiate solo shutout with seven saves. That total ties her season-best efforts at Rice (Aug. 18) and at Temple (Sept. 15).

"To win our first league game and to earn it on the road is big for us," commented Gabarra in closing. "We'll look to carry this momentum over to next week when we have two important league games at home. Every game matters in a league as competitive as ours."

Navy will kick start the home portion of its 2024 Patriot League schedule this coming Wednesday when it hosts Loyola. The Mids and Greyhounds will go head-to-head starting at 7 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Navy and Colgate will round out the busy week of action with a Saturday contest that is scheduled for a 12 p.m. kickoff.