ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's soccer team concluded the non-conference portion of its 2025 schedule with a dominant 3-0 win over UMBC on Sunday. With Patriot League competition staring down the Mids (7-3) next Saturday, they gave their home fans a strong performance that saw them tally three first half goals against the Retrievers (4-3-3) and cruise in the second half at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.

Navy had three individuals enter their name in the scoring column on Sunday with Chiara Cosenza (Jr., Westfield, N.J.) netting the first goal before Mimi Abusham (Sr., Los Alamitos, Calif.) and Katia Katsari-Hoefer (Fr., Herndon, Va.) went back-to-back within three minutes of each other late in the first half. In goal, the duo of Natasha Stramrood (So., Cypress, Texas) and Talley Applewhite (Sr., Midlothian, Va.) earned the combined shutout as Stramrood turned aside four shots on goal over the first 64 minutes before Applewhite clinched the clean sheet with two stops in the final 26 minutes of action.

"We're proud of today's result," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "We had great individual efforts throughout the contest, but we struggled with our cohesiveness. We weren't pressing or attacking together; we weren't defending in numbers and filling the spaces like we had been more recently. UMBC came out with a 3-back and we didn't adjust our system fast enough in the first half. It took us 10-15 minutes to get into rhythm and how to attack them. It took a little bit too long and we should've been able to adjust earlier.

"We're happy with a win, especially at home. We're pleased that we received a lot of production from throughout our roster. Moving forward, we have to improve our possession and play more as a cohesive unit. This was our first week of non-conference play without a game on Thursday so we have to learn from this week's pacing for upcoming Patriot League play."

UMBC put Navy on its heels early as the visitors came out and tested Stramrood with three shots in the first 12 minutes of action, two of which were on frame.

Surviving that initial rush by the Retrievers, the Mids took over in the ensuing 33 minutes with a strong run of play. Kayana Adlam (So., Orlando, Fla.) led Navy's successful retort as she worked a two-man game with Jessica Black (Fr., Cedaredge, Colo.) that resulted in Adlam putting a shot towards goal that was deflected just wide of the net in the 17th minute. Adlam's aggressive attack paid dividends a little over two minutes later at 18:41 when she laid off an overlapping pass to Hannah Mulholland (Jr., Chandler, Ariz.), who dribbled up the right wing and played a cross into the box to Cosenza. Once in possession of the ball, Cosenza ripped a low line drive shot that UMBC's keeper Kalli Williams got a hand on, but there was too much pace on it and the ball skidded into the back of the net. Cosenza's goal was her second of the season and 10th of her career through 46 games.

Adlam was back at it in the 27th minute, when she dribbled through multiple defenders crossed a pass into the box to Marlee Heaven (Sr., Rockville, Md.), who one-timed a shot on goal that was saved at the doorstep.

With the score still 1-0, Navy's depth shined down the stretch of the first half. Emmalea Sidorsky (Fr., Ocoee, Fla.) nearly increased the Mids' lead to two in the 35th minute as she rocked the crossbar with a lengthy shot before Abusham collected the rebound and pushed her volley over the net. Abusham got her redemption in the form of her first goal of 2025, four minutes later when she was on the receiving end of an Isabella Romano (Sr., Syosset, N.Y.) corner kick at 39:07.

After Stramrood denied UMBC's Delainey Proctor's shot on goal at 41:18, the action quickly moved to the opposite end of the pitch with Ali Barrow (Jr., Alexandria, Va.) leading the fast break up the left wing. Romano was the final facilitator once again as she took a lead pass from Barrow into the corner before whipping a curling cross into the box to the on-coming Katsari-Hoefer, who volleyed the ball into the back of the goal at 41:56.

Coming out of the locker room up 3-0, Navy kept UMBC off the scoreboard and controlled the majority of the action in the second half. Not overly preoccupied with the search for additional goals, the Mids recorded five shots versus four for the Retrievers; both teams put three of those attempts on frame. UMBC's best chance came in the 77th minute when Payton Schenning put a dangerous corner kick into the box and forced Applewhite to leap and punch the pass away from a pack of hungry Retrievers. Likewise, Navy's most threatening look also came off a set piece as Faith Graziano (Fr., Middlebury, Conn.) chipped a free kick into the box and ClaraJane Williams (Jr., Madison, Ga.) snapped off a header that forced Williams into a diving stop in the 84th minute.

For the game, Navy out-shot UMBC, 16-8 with a 7-6 edge in shots on goal. The Mids also held an advantage in corner kicks, 5-3.

The shutout was Navy's sixth of the season through 10 games and surpasses 2024's season-mark (21 games) and ties the 2023 team's total.

"We played a lot of different people on defense today and that's a testament to our talent and depth," said Gabarra. "If someone is tiring or a little off we have that ability to make changes immediately; that's a great thing have. We need to continue to defend together, all 11 of us, we need to attack with intent. We have a week to fine tune that before Boston, the defending Patriot League Champions, come to Glenn Warner. We're excited to put in that work this week."

Next up for Navy is the Patriot League season opener on Saturday, Sept. 20 versus Boston University. The Mids and Terriers will kick off at 1 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.

"We've had some great moments during the non-conference portion of our schedule," commented Gabarra in closing. "We have had some great defensive moments in tight, competitive games. We've also had some outstanding games offensively where our attack was thriving and scoring goals. We've done a nice job of keeping goals out of the net.

"When facing conference opposition, we will need to put all of those parts together and bring the intensity and mentality into every game. We need to step up and play the possession-based game that we know we're capable of. The stakes are so much higher these next two months. The preseason is over, now the real season begins!"