WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite striking first Tuesday afternoon, the Navy men's soccer team allowed three second-half goals to fall to American, 3-1, in its season finale at Reeves Field in Washington, D.C.
 
The Midshipmen (3-8-7, 0-6-3 PL) opened the scoring with freshman Nick Gallucci's 30th-minute tally, but the Eagles (8-7-2, 7-1-1 PL) responded by having Troy Elgersma, Toshi Davis and Taku Takahashi all net goals in the final 45 minutes to rally, clinching the 2025 Patriot League regular-season title with the victory over the Mids.
 
Navy pushed the pace to start and created a pair of scoring chances, as senior A.J. Schuetz turned and fired a shot off freshman Nick Gallucci's crossing pass at 15' while Gallucci himself launched a long-range crossing shot at 18', but Matthew Tibbetts stopped both attempts. Tibbetts' counterpart, senior Robert Eaton, matched him right after when the Navy goalkeeper scooped up Sebastian Garces' low-rising shot from far out in the 19th minute.
 
The Mids continued to look for the game's first goal, breaking out of American's press then rushing down the field, with Gallucci picking up an Eagles' clarence attempt at 30' and racing back in to fire a long-range rifle from 30 yards out, as the shot tipped off Tibbetts' hand and just under the crossbar for the rookie's third goal of the year. American tried to answer back when Reyes Parra sent a bouncing shot just right of the net at 33' and then launched another shot at 37' that Eaton dove to save and preserve the Navy lead.
 
The Eagles came out of halftime and quickly evened the score, as Troy Elgersma recovered a loose ball after Parra's pass was deflected away at 53, chipping a shot inside the box past the diving Eaton. Continuing to trade chances, American took the lead in the 71st minute when Elgersma shuffled a pass to Toshi Davis, who cut across the field and ripped a shot into the top-left corner past Eaton from 20 yards out.
 
After senior Andrew Schug's shot went high at 81', the Eagles extended their edge to 3-1 in the 82nd minute, as Garces got a through-ball on a rush and crossed it over to Taku Takahashi, with Takahashi finishing off the play by beating the Navy defense and providing the insurance tally.
 
Eaton finished the day with two saves, while Tibbetts also recorded two stops on the other side.
 
Match Notes
• Navy drops to 13-18-9 in the all-time series with American.
• Gallucci's first-half goal marked the third of his freshman campaign.
• Gallucci also posted a team-high four shots in the contest.
• With 74 saves on the season, Eaton became only the third Navy goalkeeper in the last 17 years to record 70-plus saves in a campaign.