ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's soccer team had Lehigh on the ropes throughout the majority of the action on Wednesday night, but were unable to land a finishing blow to seal three points in the standings as the Mountain Hawks came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw. The Mids (8-4-1, 1-1-1 PL) stacked numerous high percentage scoring chances together during the contest and had a substantial 21-12 advantage in total shots, but the Mountain Hawks (2-5-3, 0-2-1 PL) pulled even with just under two minutes in regulation at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility to net the tie.
Navy's offense was highlighted by well structured goals from
Kayana Adlam (So., Orlando, Fla.) in the 25th minute and
Jordan Townsend (Sr., Marriottsville, Md.) in the 77th.
"We gave up the lead twice tonight. That's not something we should be doing," remarked head coach
Carin Gabarra. "We did a great job of creating scoring opportunities all game, but when you don't put them away in the big moments, they tend to cost you. We worked really hard to have those chances, but we just didn't capitalize on those when we needed to and it came back to bite us."
"We were super competitive and played with a lot of intensity up top tonight. We frequently found success out wide and got numbers in the box. We had some nice attacking plays throughout the game, but we need more shots that make it on frame and shots that can change the game."
The action on Wednesday night opened evenly with both teams recording three shots over the initial 20 minutes of play. Momentum quickly swung to Navy's side in the 25th minute when the hosts carved through Lehigh's midfield and defensive third with a series of passes that culminated with
Jessica Black (Fr., Cedaredge, Colo.) feeding
Chiara Cosenza (Jr., Westfield, N.J.) from the left wing and Cosenza immediately opening her body up for one more pass to the right with a perfectly placed lead pass for Adlam. The speedy forward took two dribbles, drew the goalkeeper from the cage and expertly ripped a shot in the far upper-90 for a 1-0 lead at 24:08.
The Mids kept up the pressure and hunt for a second goal throughout the remaining 20-plus minutes of the first half, but came up empty as the Mountain Hawks' goalkeeper R'Reeyah Mabry-Francis was active diving on crosses and making a kick save of
Sona Gonzales' (Fr., Henderson, Nev.) shot on goal in the 39th minute and a point-blank denial of
Mimi Abusham (Sr., Los Alamitos, Calif.) in the 40th.
Navy dominated the scoring opportunities with an 11-3 advantage in total shots though only a 3-1 edge in shots on goal.
That ratio would loom large in the second half when the Mids held just a one-goal lead coming out of the locker room. The competition in the final 45 minutes was much more evenly matched as both teams were able to traverse end-to-end and pepper each of the opposing goalkeepers quite frequently. In the initial 15 minutes of the second half, Navy tested Mabry-Francis with three shots on goal, while Lehigh forced the newly-inserted
Natasha Stramrood (So., Cypress, Texas) into back-to-back saves within 30 seconds of each other in the 51st minute.
The constant action in the defensive third finally resulted in a goal for the Mountain Hawks as Aminah Burawa struck a left-footed shot into the back of the net at 65:31 to draw even at 1-1.
The Mids' nose for the goal came into play just over 11 minutes later at 76:07 when
Madison Whitworth (Jr., Murfreesboro, Tenn.) curled a high arching corner kick towards the back post where Townsend powerfully headed the ball home for the go-ahead goal. The score was the first of Townsend's career.
With the minutes counting down and Navy closing in on three points in the league table, Lehigh had other plans and scrambled to the finish line with a Cyndea Labissiere game-tying goal at 88:07.
For the game, Navy out-shot Lehigh, 21-12 with a 9-6 edge in shots on goal. The Mids also held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Talley Applewhite (Sr., Midlothian, Va.) and Stramrood split time in goal for the Mids on Wednesday with Applewhite making one save in the first half and Stramrood denying three scoring opportunities in the second stanza.
"We have to grow from tonight's performance," commented Gabarra. "There's another month's worth of games ahead of us. We have to use tonight as a stepping stone to do something better the next time we're out there. We have a big road trip coming up.
"The league is extremely competitive and no one is running away with the league so you've got to get points when you can get points."
Navy will head out on the road for the next three weeks of action with a bout versus Holy Cross next up on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff between the Mids and Crusaders is set for 1 p.m. in Worcester, Massachusetts.
