FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Navy women's soccer team continued adding to its 2025 win total with a 2-1 victory on the road over Sacred Heart. After defeating the Pioneers (1-1-1) in an offensive barn-burner in 2024 by a score of 5-3 in Annapolis, the Mids (5-2) showcased its defensive acumen and sharp accuracy in free kick opportunities to pull out the 2-1 victory on Sunday at Park Avenue Field in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Navy's offense was highlighted by Helen Bonner's (Fr., McLean, Va.) first career goal as she was on the receiving end of an Isabella Romano (Sr., Syosset, N.Y.) corner kick and later a perfectly placed free kick by Marlee Heaven (Sr., Rockville, Md.) in the 75th minute. Defensively, the Mids held the Pioneers to just seven total shots as the host's lone goal came via a penalty kick.

"We're very pleased to come away with the win today," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "It's always difficult to win on the road, especially against a quality team that plays on turf. We're glad to be getting back on the bus with this well-deserved win. We take pride in our work with set pieces and executed on those opportunities today resulting in both of our goals.

"We defended very well today, good enough for a potential shutout. We've shown that through seven games so far this year, that on any given day, our defense has the ability to keep teams off the scoreboard, we just need to clean up a few small mistakes every game. The effort and personnel are there."

The action on Sunday opened evenly though Sacred Heart had a slight edge in total shots, 3-2 over the opening 20 minutes of play. Two of the Pioneer attempts found their way on goal and tested the Mids' goalkeeper Natasha Stramrood (So., Cypress, Texas).

With its personnel changing as the first half progressed, Navy eventually started making aggressive in-roads into Sacred Heart's final third. The newly-inserted forward duo of Sona Gonzales (Fr., Henderson, Nev.) and Mimi Abusham (Sr., Los Alamitos, Calif.) nearly connected for the game's first score in the 39th minute when Gonzales slipped a lead pass onto Abusham into the box. Abusham's shot was deflected late and resulted in a corner kick. While not directly affecting the scoreboard, that play paid dividends almost immediately as on the ensuing set piece, Romano lofted a deep corner kick that bounded through the box to Bonner, who volleyed a powerful one-timer and saw her shot ring off the crossbar and fall down into the mouth of the goal at 39:09.

Coming out of the locker room down 1-0, Sacred Heart was on the hunt for a game-tying goal and did just that as the hosts were granted a penalty kick in the 61st minute. Martyna Krzysztopik converted that opportunity and the Pioneers pulled even at 1-1.

The action moved back-and-forth over the pitch and Stramrood was called upon next to preserve the tied score for Navy as she bolted off her goal line in the 69th minute and sprinted onto the oncoming Sacred Heart attacker and dispossessed the Pioneer player before the breakaway escalated further.

As quickly as Stramrood made that play, the ball changed fields and Ali Barrow (Jr., Alexandria, Va.) found herself dribbling up the left wing with her eyes towards goal. With multiple Mids crashing into the box, she slotted a pass towards them, though the Pioneers' goalkeeper Kyran Thievon was up to the task and short-circuited the cross.

Navy finally broke through with the go-ahead goal as the Mids were granted a free kick from just over 20 yards out. True to form this season, Heaven locked down the eventual game-winning tally with a perfectly placed free kick into the upper 90 of the near post. That score at 73:46 ended up being the senior's fourth game-winner of the season. Coming into the day only one DI player had recorded four game-winning goals, Summer Denigan from the University of Georgia.

With time dwindling down, Stramrood made her third and final save of the game in the 85th minute to seal up the 2-1 victory for the Mids.

For the game, Navy out-shot Sacred Heart, 12-7 with a 5-4 edge in shots on goal. The Mids also held a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.

"We displayed how deep our team is with 20 players seeing action and contributing today," commented Gabarra in closing. "That depth helps our tactics, versatility and ability to stay fresh. That'll be very important as the season progresses."
 
Next up for Navy is a Thursday night non-conference bout on the road at VCU. Kickoff at Sports Backer Stadium is set for 7 p.m.