ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The third round of Patriot League women's soccer games lies ahead for the conference on Wednesday and that means that its time for the annual meeting between Navy and Lehigh. Both teams will be looking to get back in the win column after dropping their respective contests on Friday night, the Mids (8-4, 1-1 PL) to Colgate and the Mountain Hawks (2-5-2, 0-2 PL) to Army. Kickoff between Navy and Lehigh is set for 7 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility on Wednesday evening in Annapolis.

The Navy-Lehigh contest this weekend will have live stats provided online, as well as an accompanying ESPN+ broadcast. ESPN+ is a subscription-based streaming service that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest.

Navy vs. Lehigh
Wednesday will be the 36th meeting between the two schools in a series that began on Sept. 18, 1993 ... Navy leads the series 25-6-4 and has outscored Lehigh, 63-25 all-time ... After going 0-2-1 over the teams' first three meetings, Navy has kicked the series into gear with an 25-4-3 mark beginning in 1996 ... Navy is 16-1-2 all-time in matchups played in Annapolis ... Prior to the Mids' loss to the Mountain Hawks on Oct. 7, 2022 (they fell in the postseason to Lehigh that season, as well), the team had won 11 straight games, in which they had outscored the Mountain Hawks, 22-3 ... Over the past four meetings, the victorious team has won via clean sheet.

Last 5 Matchups
In the last five meetings dating back to 2021, the Mids are 3-2 though the Mountain Hawks have outscored them 7-6, including 6-0 over a pair of 2022 matchups
    Sept. 20, 2024 (A): Navy 3 - Lehigh 0
    Sept. 15, 2023 (H): Navy 1 - Lehigh 0
    Oct. 30, 2022 (A): Lehigh 4 - Navy 0 *Patriot League Quarterfinals
    Oct. 7, 2022 (A): Lehigh 2 - Navy 0
    Oct. 8, 2021 (H): Navy 2 - Lehigh 1

Most Recent Matchup - September 20, 2024 in Bethlehem
Navy turned in a complete 90-minute effort over Lehigh in the Patriot League-opening game for both squads. The Mids scored early and often with two goals before the 20-minute mark before notching an insurance goal in the 61st minute to earn a 3-0 victory over the Mountain Hawks at the Ulrich Sports Complex.

Lauren Toms and Chiara Cosenza tallied Navy's first two goals in the first half before Alexa Riddle put away the team's third score in the second half. Ande Swan played a leading role in the facilitation for the Mids on Friday night as she assisted on both of Toms and Riddle's goals. Natasha Stramrood was stellar in goal for Navy with seven saves.

The action at Lehigh started out fast and furious with each team putting a shot on goal over the opening eight minutes of play. A chaotic cluster after a Navy corner kick in the seventh minute resulted with Rylee Rives connecting for the game's first shot on goal before Lehigh flipped the field and built up its first shot on goal as Macy McCaullum lofted a long, non-threatening ball on frame a minute later.

The Mids kept up the end-to-end action and recorded the first score of Friday night's contest when Swan slotted a pass from the near corner of the six-yard box untouched to the waiting Toms at the back post for a one-time shot and goal at 9:30.

Navy continued the offensive pressure as in the 18th minute, Cosenza received a pass and posted up a Mountain Hawk defender before drawing a foul at the top edge of the 18-yard box, causing the ref to immediately point to the penalty spot. Moments later, Cosenza calmly walked up to the ball and deposited her penalty shot into the back of the net at 17:31.

Later on in the first half with the score 2-0, Stramrood made sure the Mids' two-goal lead stood up as Carly Keane's shot in the 38th minute had eyes for the far corner of the goal, but Stramrood sprawled out for a completely horizontal save to deny the attempt.

The end-to-end pace that marked much of the first half continued into the second stanza as a Navy attack inside the box was short-circuited in the 50th minute before Lehigh raced down the field and constructed its own threatening attack that concluded with another Keane shot on goal, that forced Stramrood into action.

The Mids added an important insurance goal in 61st minute when Swan bodied a Mountain Hawk player off the ball and quickly laid off a short pass to Rives, who one-time a ball over the top to Riddle, who raced up and went in the final 30-plus yards with just her and the goalkeeper. Riddle's shot officially went in for a 3-0 lead at 60:06.

Navy's defense closed out its first league win and second shutout of 2024 with a strong final 30 minutes at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Stramrood led from the back with four saves during this span, including a trio of stops on shots by Aminah Baruwa in the 78th, 87th and 89th minutes.

For the game, Lehigh out-shot Navy, 17-10 with a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal. The hosts also held a 6-2 edge in corner kicks. Stramrood collected her first collegiate solo shutout with seven saves. 

Comparing the Teams

2025 Stats	Navy	Lehigh
Record / League	8-4-0 / 1-1-0 PL	2-5-2 / 0-2-0 PL
Home / Away	6-1-0 / 2-3-0	0-3-2 / 2-2-0
Goals/Gm	2.08	0.78
Assists/Gm	1.67	0.44
Shots/Gm	13.3	10.0
Goals Against Average	0.75	2.11
GK Saves/Gm	3.83	4.44
Common Opponent(s):	Maryland - L, 1-2	Maryland - L, 0-3

Individual Leaders

	Navy	Lehigh
Goals	Heaven, 7	Conner/Dobosiewicz, 2
Assists	Cosenza, 4	Baruwa, 2
Points	Heaven, 15	Conner/Dobosiewicz, 4
Shots	Heaven, 17	Baruwa, 16
GK Saves	Stramrood, 37	Mabry-Francis, 23

Last Time Out: September 26 versus Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y.
Navy scored first on Friday night, but was unable to hold off Colgate in a road Patriot League contest as the Raiders came from behind for the 2-1 victory. The Mids (8-4, 1-1 PL) received an early goal by Kayana Adlam in the 13th minute before the Raiders (4-3-4, 1-0-1 PL) evened it in the 32nd minute and pulled ahead right after halftime in the 48th minute.

The action started out fast and furious as the teams combined for three shots on goal over the opening 100 seconds of play. Adlam and Chiara Cosenza tallied the Mids' shots on goal, while Natasha Stramrood denied Ellie Stokes' shot on goal for Colgate.

Stramrood's number continued to be called upon early and often as she was active off her line and deflected away a Bianca Howitt shot inside the box in the eighth minute before leaping up to her left to push an Anna Keeling attempt over the crossbar in the 11th minute.

Invigorated by their goalkeeper's stellar play, Navy was able to flip the field as less than two minutes after Stramrood's most recent save, Adlam put the Mids up 1-0 at 12:40. The goal scoring play began with a Marlee Heaven shot that ricocheted off a Colgate defender and forced the Raiders' Ella Poppinga into a diving save. With the ball still bouncing around the box, Adlam crashed onto it and banged home the goal.

A violent collision between Stramrood and Ari Bezanson in the 16th minute short-circuited the sophomore's fast start and saw her removed from the game due to an injury. Bezanson was shown a yellow card by the referee for her physical challenge.

Play slowed down a bit for the next 15 minutes with action in the midfield dominating. Colgate registered the only two shots of the contest; both off frame. The dynamic of the game changed when Bezanson put the Raiders' next shot in the back of the net at 31:05 to draw the score even.

Coming out of the locker room knotted at 1-1, the hosts immediately jumped out into the lead as Ana Schremp put home an Ellie Stokes shot that rang off the post at 47:01.

Just over seven minutes later, Navy nearly re-tied the contest with a quartet of high percentage looks over a span of eight seconds. Leading off the chaotic series of events was a Hannah Mulholland blast that Poppinga got a hand on. With the ball still alive inside the six-yard box, Cosenza put a shot on frame that was denied by a Colgate defender off the line via a team save before Jessica Black connected for a shot directly into another defender and Mulholland received a second opportunity, but saw her attempt sail over the crossbar.

Called upon to relieve Stramrood in the first half, Talley Applewhite gave a valiant effort to keep Navy in the contest as she stopped a Bezanson shot in the 59th minute that could've made it 3-1.

Trailing by one, Black had a pair of shots on target that forced Poppinga into action over the next 10 minutes. Her shot in the 68th minute came after a superb individual effort saw her dribble through Colgate's defense up the right wing before unleashing a shot.

Unfortunately for the Mids, that attempt by Black was the visitor's final shot on goal as the Raiders tallied the final three shots on goal, all of which were denied by Applewhite.

For the game, Colgate out-shot Navy, 21-17 with a 10-9 edge in shots on goal. The Raiders held a significant advantage in corner kicks, 8-1.

Applewhite tied her career-high with five saves, while Stramrood recorded three stops in her 15 minutes of action.