ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Early season non-conference play continues for the Navy women's soccer team this weekend with a pair of road contests. First up for the Mids (4-1) is a short trip to College Park, Maryland for a intrastate showdown with the University of Maryland Terrapins (3-1) on Thursday night before heading up to the northeast for a return matchup with the Sacred Heart Pioneers (1-0-1) on Sunday afternoon. The Mids and Terps will be meeting for the fifth consecutive season, while the Mids and Pioneers will conclude a home-and-home series that began last August. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Ludwig Field on Thursday night before the action at Park Avenue Field in Fairfield, Connecticut starts at 12-noon on Sunday.

All of the women's soccer action this week will have live stats provided online, as well as video streaming options. The Navy-Maryland game will be streamed on Big Ten Plus, while the Navy-Sacred Heart game will be available on Pioneers+ and ESPN+. BIG+ and ESPN+ are subscription-based streaming services that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest.

Navy vs. Maryland
Thursday will be the 18th meeting between the two schools in a series that began in 1996 ... All-time, Maryland holds an 11-2-4 advantage over Navy ... In that first-ever matchup on Oct. 22, 1996, the Terrapins defeated the Mids, 4-0 in College Park ... Playing five times over that first 10-year span, Maryland earned victories in all five matchups ... The Mids earned their first tie versus the Terps on Sept. 8, 2014 with a 1-1 draw at home ... More recently, Navy gone toe-to-toe with Maryland with an even 2-2-3 mark over the last seven meetings ... Navy secured its first win in the intrastate series in 2016 as the Mids defeated the Terps, 5-3 in Annapolis on Sept. 7 ... Navy is 1-9-1 all-time in road games in the series.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five matchups dating back to 2018, the Mids and Terps are knotted at 1-1-3  with Navy holding a slight 7-6 advantage in total goals scored during that span.
    Aug. 28, 2024 (H): Maryland 1 - Navy 0
    Aug. 24, 2023 (A): Navy 3 - Maryland 3
    Aug. 25, 2022 (H): Navy 1 - Maryland 1
    Aug. 29, 2021 (A): Navy 3 - Maryland 1
    Aug. 26, 2018 (H): Navy 0 - Maryland 0

Most Recent Navy-Maryland Matchup: August 28, 2024
The fans that braved the rainy conditions at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility on Thursday night were treated to 90 minutes of hard-fought soccer between intrastate rivals, the Navy women's soccer team and the University of Maryland. Unfortunately for those home fans of the Midshipmen, a late goal by the Terrapins' Kelsey Smith in the 74th minute proved to be the deciding factor in the eventual 1-0 outcome.

The action on Thursday night was dominated by the defense as the teams combined for just four total shots on goal for the entire game. The only shot on goal of the opening period came early on in the first half when Amanda Graziano swung a deep, looping free kick over the sea of Navy and Maryland players in the box and towards the back post where the upcoming Tatum Kelly headed the ball at the lower corner, but Maryland goalkeeper, Liz Beardsley, was active off her line and dove on the shot to save a potential goal in the eighth minute.

The Mids' only official shot on goal in the second stanza came courtesy of a long, powerful free kick by Hannah Mulholland that cleared the Terps' defense and skipped into Beardsley's chest in the 66th minute.

Maryland fought its way into the scoring column at 73:17 when the newly re-inserted Kelsey Smith muscled her way through the box and found just enough of a seam to square up a shot and find the back of the net for the game's first and only goal.

Down 1-0, Navy battled until the final whistle as they had one more look at goal in the 90th minute when Stramrood got a hold of her goal kick and after a lead pass from the midfield, Heaven received the ball and ripped one last shot towards the goal only to see the ball sail wide.

For the game, Navy out-shot Maryland, 12-7, though both teams were even with two shots on goal. The teams also tied in the corner kick category at 3-3.

Navy vs. Sacred Heart
Sunday will be the second meeting between the two schools in a series that began last August in Annapolis ... Navy was victorious in that matchup, 5-3 ... All-time, the Mids are 31-2-1 in 34 games versus MAAC opposition: Fairfield (0-1), Iona (1-0), Manhattan (1-0), Marist (4-0), Mount St. Mary's (15-0), Niagara (1-1), Quinnipiac (1-0), Rider (4-0-1), Sacred Heart (1-0), Saint Peter's (1-0) and Siena (2-0)

Last 5 Matchups vs. MAAC
In the last five matchups dating back to 2016, the Mids are 4-1-0 against the MAAC and have out-scored their opponents, 11-5 over that span.
   Sept. 1, 2024 (A): Navy 2 - Marist 1
   Aug. 22, 2024 (H): Navy 5 - Sacred Heart 3
   Aug. 28, 2022 (H): Niagara 1 - Navy 0
   Sept. 10, 2021 (H): Navy 2 - Mount St. Mary's 1
   Sept. 18, 2016 (A): Navy 2 - Mount St. Mary's 0

Most Recent Navy-Sacred Heart Matchup: August 22, 2024
The Navy women's soccer team opened the home portion of its 2024 schedule with an explosive 5-3 victory over Sacred Heart on Thursday afternoon. The Mids scored early and often versus the Pioneers as the home fans at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility were treated to three first-half goals and two more in the second half by Navy.

Marlee Heaven led the Mids in scoring with a pair of goals, while Alexa Riddle added a goal and two assists, all in the first half. Chiara Cosenza and Rylee Rives added the two additional Navy goals.

The offensive fireworks started early for Navy when Riddle whipped a low looping cross into the six-yard box where Heaven sprinted into position and met the ball with a bouncing header past Sacred Heart's goalkeeper Kyran Thievon at 3:48 of the first half.

After the Pioneers nearly evened the score with a Shea Kelleher shot that rang off the crossbar in the 18th minute, the Mids added an insurance goal a short time later when Riddle captured a high, bounding ball, juked past a pair of defenders and slotted a crisp lead pass to Cosenza, who ripped a shot into the back of the net at 22:03.

Just 100 seconds later at 23:43, Riddle notched her first goal of the game when she stepped up to a free kick from 25 yards out and curled a shot into the lower far corner of the goal mouth to make it a 3-0 advantage for Navy.

The Mids held that lead into the halftime break as Natasha Stramrood corralled a pair of Pioneer shots on goal over the final 20-minutes of action. Thursday's game marked the first collegiate start of Stramrood's career.

The action in the second half was more wide-open and action-packed as the teams combined for five goals and 16 total shots. Sacred Heart shaved a goal off of Navy's lead within the first eight minutes of the second stanza with a Morgan Bovardi tally at 52:45.

The two-goal margin was short lived as Rives found the back of the net, three-and-a-half minutes when she headed home an Amanda Graziano corner kick at 56:20. The Mids' 4-1 lead quickly expanded to 5-1 when Talley Applewhite launched a deep punt that bounded up the field and ricocheted off multiple Pioneer defenders and was deflected into open space before Heaven ran up on the loose ball and went in for a breakaway goal at 57:27.

With the score 5-1 Navy, Sacred Heart tightened the final result to 5-3 with goals in the 72nd and 78th minutes.

For the game, Navy out-shot Sacred Heart, 17-11 with a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal. The Mids also held a 6-1 edge in corner kicks.

Individual Leaders

(2025 Stats)	Navy	Maryland	Sacred Heart
Goals	Graziano/Heaven, 3	Smith, 3	Kelleher, 2
Assists	Clay, 3	Abramson/Morales, 2	Roeder, 1
Points	Graziano/Heaven, 6	Smith, 7	Kelleher, 4
Shots	Graziano, 9	Egeland, 12	Kelleher, 6
GK Saves	Stramrood, 13	Luckey, 11	Thievon, 4

Last Time Out: August 26 vs. Marywood University
Returning to its winning ways, a hat trick from rookie Faith Graziano and solid contributions from 20 different players guided the Navy women's soccer team to a 3-0 victory over Marywood University on Tuesday afternoon at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
 
Led offensively by Graziano's three-goal outing and Emily Clay's two assists, the Midshipmen also posted the clean sheet with a formidable backline and a combined shutout from Talley Applewhite and Cadence Tordai, out-shooting the opposition by a 27-2 margin.

Navy finally got its first shot past Orr at 21', as Madison Whitworth's pass found Clay upfield, who then fed Graziano for a kick that rifled into the right side.
 
Trading possession after the restart, another Navy push found a loose ball knocked down by Graziano near the box, with the rookie launching another goal past Orr in the 25th minute. After Clay sent a trio of shots wide trying to extend the lead, Graziano completed her hat trick and made it 3-0 when Clay crossed a pass into the box, with Graziano aiming a shot into the left side of the net at 39'.

The 4-1 record is Navy's best five-game start to a season since an identical 4-1 open to the 2019 campaign.