CHESTER, Pa. – The first-ever Army-Navy Cup played at Subaru Park will go down as one of the most memorable for the two rivalry service academies as over 6,000 fans in attendance at the MLS stadium were treated to hard fought 2-2 contest on Friday. The Mids (8-5-2, 1-2-2 PL) jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the 48th minute before the Black Knights (8-4-2, 2-2-1 PL) rallied late with a pair of goals in the final 26 minutes. Friday's game was the second of 26 meetings this academic year between the rivalry service academies as part of the Army-Navy Series presented by USAA.
Navy's senior class starred in Friday's action as
Mimi Abusham (Los Alamitos, Calif.) registered the Mids' first goal as she put home a lead pass from
Marlee Heaven (Rockville, Md.) in the 36th minute before Heaven scored herself in the 48th when she converted a penalty kick.
"That was a fun game to be a part of," remarked head coach
Carin Gabarra. "There was end-to-end action between two very attack-oriented teams. There was a lot of heart, effort, grit and passion out there today. It was a wonderful game to watch and experience. We had two seniors score today so we really wanted to get them this win. This rivalry is so important to our players, especially come your senior year.
"Soccer is a funny sport. Once they pulled within one, the momentum swung to Army and they put a lot of pressure on us late. It's always disappointing when you're up by two goals and not come away with a victory. That will sit with us, but hopefully that will propel us to some bigger performances over the next couple of games as move into the second half of the league season."
The passion was on display early at Subaru Park as the ball was moving up-and-down the pitch with each of the respective goalies being tested over the opening 14 minutes.
Natasha Stramrood (So., Cypress, Texas) was up to the task for the Mids with one save during that span and a second coming in the 23rd minute.
Coming in fresh off the bench, Abusham made sure she'd make an impact in her final Star Match as just over 12 minutes after she checked in, she put her squad up 1-0 with second goal of 2025. The scoring opportunity began when Heaven headed a punt from Army's goalkeeper Karalyn Dail directly back toward the Black Knights' goal where Abusham rushed up on the ball and easily maneuvered around one defender and ripped a low line drive into the net at 35:21.
Army registered the final four shots of the first half, but all for naught as they missed off-target.
Coming out of the locker room up 1-0, Navy doubled its lead within minutes as Heaven was fouled as she dribbled into the 18-yard box, drawing a penalty kick opportunity. The sharp-shooting senior calmly deposited her penalty kick into the left-side netting to put the Mids up 2-0 at 47:35.
The Black Knights didn't allow that margin to last long as less than seven minutes later at 54:21, Grace Pohlidal deflected home a loose ball following a free kick into the box.
Army continued to hunt for that game-tying goal as the Black Knights recorded 10 of the next 12 shots. Unfortunately for the Mids, that 12th shot ended up being another goal off the foot of Pohlidal at 84:13.
That score stood up for the final 5:47 of play and the 31st Army-Navy Star Match went final 2-2. In dedicated Star matchups, the series leans towards Navy, 15-11-5 all-time.
For the game, Army out-shot Navy, 22-11 with a much smaller 6-5 margin for shots on goal to the Black Knights. Stramrood finished with four saves.
Next up for the Mids is a mid-week road trip to the nation's capital for a Wednesday matchup at American University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
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