ANNAPOLIS, Md. – An annual tradition awaits, as the Navy men's soccer team (3-5-4, 0-3-1 PL) is back in action Friday night as it takes on rival Army (3-4-4, 1-2-1 PL) in the 14th edition of the Army-Navy Cup at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa.
 
Friday's Patriot League contest is slated for a 7:05 p.m. opening kick from the home of Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union, with the match airing on ESPN+ and Joe Miller calling the action alongside Diego Manrique.
 
Army-Navy Cup XIV includes a doubleheader featuring the women's teams for the first time in the event's history, with the women's match set to kick off at 4:05 p.m. Tickets for the single-admission doubleheader are on sale HERE.
 
The men's game will mark the third competition of the 2025-26 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, with the Black Knights holding a 1-0 lead in the all-sport season series entering the weekend.
 
Series History
Going into the 92nd all-time meeting between the two programs, the Mids hold a 41-33-17 advantage over their rivals from West Point … Army has an 8-4-4 edge over Navy in neutral-site matches … The longest winning streak in the series from either side was a 10-game win streak by Navy from 1955 to 1964, with draws making it a 13-game unbeaten streak for the Mids against Army from 1954 to 1966.
 
Army-Navy Cup History
While Army and Navy had faced off in two neutral-site contests in the 1960s, the first iteration of the Army-Navy Cup at the Philadelphia Union's home stadium came in 2012 … The Black Knights have a 6-3-4 edge over the Mids through the first 13 meetings at now-Subaru Park … After the 2012 game ended in a 1-1 tie, the Mids won the 2013 and 2014 meetings by a 1-0 score each time before Army rattled off two-straight victories in the event, while a scoreless draw in 2017 set up an Army win in 2018 … A tie in the 2019 match built momentum for the 2020 meeting, but COVID-19 forced the ninth edition of the Army-Navy Cup to be played on April 25, 2021, as Army grabbed a 2-0 win … Just 166 days later, Navy got revenge on Oct. 9 thanks to a hat-trick from Jacob Williams, the first hat-trick in the Cup's 10-year history, as Navy picked up a 3-0 shutout … Army used a pair of second-half goals to defeat Navy in the 2022 iteration of the match … Along with nine saves by the Mids' Pierce Holbrook, goals from Navy's David Jackson and Army's Gage Lyons resulted in a 1-1 draw in 2023 … The Oct. 11, 2024 meeting saw Gage Lyons break a 1-1 deadlock in the 84th minute to give Army a 2-1 victory despite eight saves from Holbrook … Senior A.J. Schuetz has played in all three Star matches during his time at Navy, including starts in 2023 and 2024.
 
Covering the Connections
Junior Nate Stewart is the latest in a long line of Navy players to come out of the Philadelphia Union Academy program, as the Phoenixville, Pa., native played 14 minutes off the bench as a rookie in the 2023 Army-Navy Cup and then played the full-90 during the 2024 edition … Stewart also has the rivalry in his blood, as his father Jason is a 1994 West Point graduate and former cross country/track athlete, who was a three-time NCAA All-American and was inducted into the Army Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017 … Another Pennsylvania native, sophomore Keane Brown from New Hope, Pa., will face off against his former Pennington School teammate in Army's Justin Davidyock, with Brown playing the full-90 in last year's rivalry game … Freshman Ronan Harding is the latest Pennsylvania native to find his way onto the Mids' roster, hailing from Warminster, Pa.
 
Holbrook Goes Pro
Former Navy goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook signed a professional contract with the Philadelphia Union II of the MLS Next Pro in early June … The former All-Patriot League goalie went on to play nine games for the official affiliate of MLS's Philadelphia Union, posting five shutouts, before earning a short-term call-up to be the backup in the First Team's Aug. 23 game against the Chicago Fire … Holbrook becomes the third player to earn a professional opportunity in the last four seasons under head coach Tim O'Donohue and is the fourth Navy player in the last 11 years join the professional soccer ranks … Holbrook closed his collegiate career with 208 saves in 54 games, posting a .756 save percentage and 1.24 goals against average with 18 shutouts … Holbrook's 18 career shutouts were the second most by a Navy goalkeeper since 1983.
 
Army-Navy Packing Subaru Park
The attendance of 10,134 at the 2024 Army-Navy Cup marked the second-largest crowd for an Army-Navy Cup contest, just under the 10,168 number who attended the 2014 edition of the rivalry match … Last year's Army-Navy Cup attendance was the largest crowd for a regular-season men's college soccer match in 2024.
 
Last Time Out
Two goals early in the second half by host Colgate dowsed Navy's chances on Saturday afternoon, as the Raiders handed the Midshipmen a 2-0 loss in Hamilton, N.Y. … While senior goalkeeper Robert Eaton kept Navy even with Colgate in a competitive first half, the Raiders' Blake Pipkin buried his own rebound in the 52nd minute to give the hosts a lead and then set up Alex St. John for the game's second goal 11 minutes later to hold off the Mids … Eric Widrick picked up the three-save shutout, while Eaton finished the day with six saves on the other end … Eaton has tallied four-or-more saves in each of his last seven starts.
 
Navy Notes
The current Navy seniors have gone 20-26-22 in their time in Annapolis, going 9-11-11 in league play and making a pair of Patriot League Tournaments, including winning the 2022 league title as freshmen … The Mids are 6-1-3 all-time when A.J. Schuetz records a point, while Navy has tallied a 5-1-3 mark when Andrew Schug scores … Navy is also 2-1-1 when Wyatt Stevens nets a goal … With Will Cawlfield's tally against William & Mary, Navy needs one other rookie to register a goal to have multiple freshmen score in a season for the first time since the fall 2020/spring 2021 campaign, when both David Jackson and Baba Kallie scored as plebes … Only two non-senior goalkeepers have started a game in net for Navy since 2019: Pierce Holbrook (2022, 2023) and Dylan Carmody (2025) … Navy is 91-59-32 all-time against teams from New York.
 
Ranking the Mids
Andrew Schug's and Duncan Sullivan's three goals apiece are tied for sixth in the Patriot League … Sullivan's eight points are tied for seventh in the league … Robert Eaton's 0.852 save percentage ranks 10th in the nation and second in the Patriot League … Eaton's 0.819 goals against average is third in the league and 39th nationally … Eaton's 46 total saves stand 17th in the country while the 4.6 saves per game ranks 20th nationally … Navy is third in the league with 11.0 shots per game (127th nationally) … The Mids' 1.000 team goals against average also ranks third in the league and 57th in the nation.
 
Scouting Army
After a season-opening loss to Fairfield, the Black Knights rattled off a seven-game unbeaten streak that included wins over Penn State, Villanova and Boston U., but the last three contests have resulted in losses for Army … A midweek loss to No. 13 Princeton was followed this past Saturday with a 1-0 defeat at defending league champion Bucknell … Ronald Zhai and Jubril Bamgbala pace the Black Knights with two goals apiece, with Zhai holding the team lead with five points on the season … Jack Meyer leads the team with two assists … Starting eight of Army's 11 games, Michael Guiry has totaled 40 saves (38th nationally) while sitting third in the league and 30th nationally with 4.44 saves per game … Guiry's .816 save percentage ranks 27th in the country … Army averages the second-most fouls per game in the Patriot League (12.55) and has the second-most yellow cards (26), also pacing the league with three red cards.
 
Army-Navy Star Series Update
The contest will mark the third of 28 Star Games between Army and Navy teams in the 2025-26 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA … Army leads the series, 1-0, as Army volleyball opened the slate with a four-set win over Navy on Sept. 19 … This weekend has three stars on the line with women's and men's soccer in Chester on Friday night, while the men's golf star match is slated for Saturday and Sunday in Annapolis … Next weekend will feature two stars up for grabs in West Point, with men's and women's cross country competing in their star matches … Navy had won eight-straight star series before falling in the 2024-25 all-sport series.
 
Up Next
Navy will host Senior Day on Oct. 18 in a 1 p.m. matchup with Lafayette in Annapolis.