ANNAPOLIS, Md. – After a pair of shutout victories to kick off the campaign, the Navy women's soccer team (2-0) is seeking to extend its season-opening winning streak with a pair of home games this weekend at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
The middle chunk of a four-game homestand, the Midshipmen host Wofford (0-2) at 5 p.m. Thursday as part of a doubleheader with the Navy men's team, before welcoming Delaware (2-0) for a 4 p.m. Sunday match.
Heaven and Stramrood Earn Weekly League Awards
Navy picked up a pair of weekly awards on Monday, with
Marlee Heaven earning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week and
Natasha Stramrood collecting the league's Goalkeeper of the Week honor … Heaven and Stramrood were integral to Navy's 2-0 start to the season, as Heaven notched the opening goal for the Mids in each game while Stramrood picked up five saves over 166 minutes of action to anchor Navy to back-to-back clean sheets … The goals marked the 12th and 13th career goals for Heaven, while Sunday's score gave her a tally in each of the Mids' last three home openers … For Stramrood, she made three saves over 76 minutes in the season-opening win over Robert Morris, and then recorded two more saves and racked up her first collegiate assist in the Sunday clean sheet against the Temple, picking up her fourth career shutout.
A Hot Start
The back-to-back wins marks Navy's first 2-0 start since a four-game winning streak to open the 2009 season … The five goals scored for Navy over the opening two games is the most for the Mids over their first two contests since a seven-goal output in 2013's opening two matches … The Mids have now won five-straight home openers, with
Marlee Heaven scoring in each of the last three home-opening contests … Navy has now gone unbeaten over its first two games in four of the last five seasons … The Mids' best start to a season was a 19-game winning streak to begin the 2006 campaign.
Last Time Out
After getting three goals in the first 45 minutes and three-point effort from
Chiara Cosenza in last Thursday's season-opening 3-0 win at Robert Morris, Navy continued its trend by claiming a 2-0 victory over Temple in its home opener on Sunday … With
Marlee Heaven scoring in the opening 15 minutes for the second-straight contest to give Navy an early edge and
Madison Whitworth adding her first goal of the campaign in the second half, the Mids helped out goalkeeper
Natasha Stramrood by limiting the visiting Owls to just two shots on goal, including none on target in the final 28 minutes while the Mids were down a player.
Navy Notes
Bringing back 15 letterwinners, including seven starters, Navy returns 65 percent of its goal scoring and 61 percent of its total assists from the 2024 campaign … Navy is 9-0-1 when
Marlee Heaven scores, while the Mids hold a perfect 7-0-0 mark when
Chiara Cosenza tallies a goal … Stramrood's 94 total saves last season ranked 40th nationally and fourth among DI rookie keepers.
Scouting Wofford
The Terriers have struggled over the first week of the season, with a pair of 1-0 losses to USC Upstate and then UNC Asheville … Wofford brings back 21 players, including eight starters, from a 2024 squad that went 6-12-2 overall … Elizabeth Navola returns in net for the Terriers, as the rookie goalkeeper finished first in the SoCon for saves per game (5.44) last year … The team also features forward Kate Markey, who was named to the 2024 SoCon All-Freshman Team with a goal and a team-high five assists … Wofford was picked eighth in the Southern Conference's preseason poll.
Series History vs. Wofford
Navy holds the 1-0 edge over Wofford in the all-time series, previously playing each other during the 2023 season … That Sept. 3, 2023 meeting saw the Mids pull out the 3-1 victory in Spartanburg, S.C., as a three-point game by Kat Healey was supported by goals from
Alexa Riddle and
Isabella Romano, while Mattie Gallagher made four saves for the win.
Scouting Delaware
The Blue Hens have posted a strong start like the Mids, pulling out a 5-2 win over Mount St. Mary's to begin the season and following it up with a 2-1 victory against Bucknell … Maggie Groh paces Delaware with three goals on the early season while Taisiya Reid has also chipped in two tallies, with Groh earning Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday … Sophia Hall has played all 180 minutes in net, making five saves while facing 15 total shots … The team also returns all-conference performers in Brooke Vogel and Conny Viehmann … Delaware was picked to finish seventh out of 12 teams in the CUSA preseason poll.
Series History
Navy is 2-0-0 in the all-time series with Delaware … The teams' last meeting on Oct. 10, 2003 end with a 3-2 Navy win in overtime.
Looking Ahead
Navy will host Marywood University on Tuesday, Aug. 26 to close out the homestand, with match time set for 4 p.m.
