ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Coming off an offensive-charged 4-3 victory over Loyola on Wednesday night, the Navy women's soccer team was unable to find that same spark on Saturday afternoon as it allowed a goal in the fourth minute to the visiting Colgate Raiders and trailed for the remaining 86-plus minutes. At the conclusion of the contest at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, the Raiders (3-8-1, 1-2 PL) earned its first Patriot League win of 2024 with a 3-0 decision over the Mids (8-6, 2-1 PL).

"We didn't come out with the same start and same fire that we've had the last few games," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "They [Colgate] got an early goal and we didn't respond the way that we needed to. We have to play every game one at a time; every one is different and every opponent poses a different stylistic matchup. We need to come out as if each game is the biggest game of the year. Today we weren't ready to match the intensity of a Colgate team that was coming in a little more desperate than we were.

"They played with three backs so they out-numbered us in the midfield. They had more possession than us in the midfield. The last couple of days we've been working on sliding on defense and how handle that, but we weren't doing it quick enough and we weren't doing it enough as a unit so we weren't getting pressure on the ball as quick as we needed to. They were controlling the ball and finding their forwards in opportunistic positions. We were dropping off too far and giving them too much space to finish. Their first two goals were excellent shots, but we can't back off and give them room at the top of the box like that."

Colgate's offense was clicking early as on its first shot of the game the visitors found itself up 1-0 when Ari Bezanson ripped a well-struck shot from outside the 18-yard box at 3:27. The Raiders kept its foot on the offensive pedal with six of the next seven shots over the ensuing 22 minutes. The Mids' goalkeeper Natasha Stramrood (Fr., Cypress, Texas) was busy during this run with three saves.

The constant pressure by Colgate quickly turned into a second goal at 26:26 when Nikki DiCaprio hit Ellie Stokes streaking into space for another well-struck shot.

Navy's first shot on goal of the first half came in the 34th minute when Alexa Riddle (Sr., Tomball, Texas) received a long throw-in and backed her defender down close to the six-yard box before spinning and getting a shot off. The Mids' final look at breaking onto the scoreboard came in the 44th minute when Isabella Romano (Jr., Syosset, N.Y.) lofted a cross into the box that had eyes for Paige Kush (Fr., Ellicott City, Md.), but Ella Poppinga was active off the goal line and batted the pass away.

With the score 2-0 coming out of the locker room, Colgate recreated its quick-strike start from the first half as just 3:20 into the second period, Ari Bezanson played a ball up to Paige Foa, who deked a Navy defender and netted the Raiders' third goal of the game at 48:20.

The Mids were relentless in their hunt for a goal on Saturday, but unfortunately all quests came up empty. In a span of six-plus minutes from 50:59 through 57:27, Navy registered four shots and five corner kick chances. The best look came from Ande Swan (Fr., Sugar Land, Texas) in the 58th minute when she recovered a loose ball after a corner kick and rocketed a shot on frame that forced Colgate's new goalkeeper Alli Popham to leap up from her position and punch the ball over the crossbar.

The final 32 minutes of action was dominated by midfield play as the teams combined for just five shots, three for the Raiders and two for the Mids.

For the game, Colgate out-shot Navy, 16-10 and held a 7-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Midshipmen out-numbered the Raiders in corner kicks, 7-2. Stramrood made four saves in 67 minutes of action in goal.

Looking ahead, Navy will head on the road next week for an away game at Boston University. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. at Nickerson Field.

"We have a full week to prepare for Boston which is nice," said Gabarra. "We'll work on what we need to fix from today and get ready for a different look from a different team in a tough, road environment. We'll be prepared."