ANNAPOLIS, Md. – On a day when Head Coach
Carin Gabarra won her 400th collegiate career game, the Navy women's soccer team showcased the aggressive and explosive brand of soccer that has been a pillar of her coaching strategy since beginning her career over 30 years ago. Sunday afternoon was a perfect encapsulation of her influence on the game as the Mids (6-3) struck early and often with four goals in the first 18 minutes versus the Presbyterian Blue Hose (3-3-1) on their way to a dominant 5-0 victory in front of their home fans at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
Navy's goals came from
Kayana Adlam (So., Orlando, Fla.),
Marlee Heaven (Sr., Rockville, Md.),
Hannah Mulholland (Jr., Chandler, Ariz.) and
Faith Graziano (Fr., Middlebury, Conn.) with an additional score via an own goal. The Mids' goalkeeping trio of
Natasha Stramrood (So., Cypress, Texas),
Talley Applewhite (Sr., Midlothian, Va.) and
Cadence Tordai (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) backstopped the team's defensive clean sheet.
"The goal today was to have a second well-fought performance on the weekend. Once you get into conference play that becomes pretty important," remarked Gabarra. "We had a rough road trip on Thursday and played a very talented VCU team so it was important for us to bring the intensity and work ethic today.
"We've really been working to improve our starts this year. That's been a focus since the onset. It's important for us to get in there and into the opponent's half early. We want to imprint our style of play and intensity on them from the opening whistle. I'm proud of start today with four goals in 18 minutes. There are still things to work on, I don't think our possession was as good as it needed to be at times. We'll need to work on doing better with keeping the ball in tight spaces, as well as with our movement off the ball."
The action started fast and furious on Sunday as the Mids broke onto the scoreboard at 4:18 when Heaven lined up a free kick just outside of the box and instead of taking aim on goal slipped a crisp lead pass around the Blue Hose' wall to Adlam, who flicked the one-time shot into the back of the net.
The game didn't stay at 1-0 long as just two and half minutes later at 6:56, Mulholland put an innocuous through ball over the top, but on the way to her preferred receiver her well-struck pass was deflected by a Presbyterian defender and completely changed course past the Blue Hose' goalkeeper for an own goal.
The visitors tried to turn the tides a bit over the next five-plus minutes with a pair of shots, but those efforts did little to change their luck as Heaven found her way into the scoring column of the box score at 15:57 when she powered home a header off of a
Chiara Cosenza (Jr., Westfield, N.J.) cross to make it 3-0.
The Mids put a bow on their first have onslaught less than 90 seconds later at 17:11 with Mulholland's first goal of the 2025 season. Joining the rush from her wing defender position, Mulholland grabbed a loopy, mis-struck clearance by Presbyterian's goalkeeper and without thinking twice lined up for the shot and unleashed a powerful blast from 25-plus yards out to increase the host's lead to 4-0.
The Blue Hose's only look at goal in the first came off the ensuing kickoff as Lindsey Malyszek unsuccessfully tested Stramrood.
Pleased to take a 4-0 lead into the locker room at halftime, the Mids continued to mix-and-match their personnel during the second half. In total, all 27 players that were healthy and available on Sunday saw time in the contest. Highlights of the second half, included a
Katia Katsari-Hoefer (Fr., Herndon, Va.) shot on goal that required PC's Grace Moulton to dive to her right from her goalkeeper position in the 53rd minute and a
Helen Bonner (Fr., McLean, Va.) opportunity two minutes later that saw her chase down a pass over the top and get greeted at the top of the box by Moulton for a short-circuited shot on goal.
Graziano left her mark in the final quarter of the game as she initially rang a shot of the crossbar in the 77th minute before putting together a dribbling clinic in the closing seconds of the game and crossing over a Blue Hose defender before letting loose with a fadeaway left-footed shot from outside the box that sailed into the far-side upper-90 portion of the goal at 89:58.
"We've been talking a lot about our depth this year and you can see it and feel the impact that all of our players have," commented Gabarra. "It's so nice to know that if someone is off, needs a break or isn't performing as well as they can we have players to put in there and keep up the same level. It was great to see 27 players in action today and really make an impact."
For the game, both teams finished with 12 total shots, though the Mids had a pronounced 9-3 advantage in shots on goal. Corner kicks really didn't have much affect on Sunday's contest with the teams combining for three opportunities, two for Navy and one for Presbyterian.
Stramrood earned the victory with 45 minutes of shutout goalkeeping. Applewhite and Tordai joined in for the combined shutout as they split the second half with Applewhite going 30 minutes and Tordai the final 15. All three goalkeepers made one save each during their time in net.
"Our defense has been great all year," said Gabarra. "We have a lot of very skilled defenders with a variety of different skills and they're all very talented. They've done a very good job at staying tight in their shape, keeping balls from getting played in between and behind them. We need to continue to stay compact and keep defending well and keeping possession."
With Sunday's victory, Gabarra improves her all-time record to 400-202-66 over one season coaching Westmont College (CA) in 1987 (6-10) and 33 at the helm of Navy (394-192-66). She joins elite company as only 38 women's soccer coaches across all three NCAA divisions have ever attained that milestone, while 52 coaches have reached that plateau in the men's collegiate game. Among active NCAA DI women's soccer coaches only 10 people are currently on the sidelines with 400 or more victories.
"I'm just thankful and honored to have had the opportunity to work here at the United States Naval Academy and earn almost all of those wins here," commented Gabarra. "Anyone that gets to 400 wins has likely been in the same place for a long time. To me this is really special because of the people that have been a part of this journey. We did a podcast yesterday with three alums and to hear about their successes and what this program has meant to them is so important. To keep them connected with our current players really makes my heart happy. I'm thankful for being given the opportunity to lead this program for so long and to be able to work with the best coaching staff, best support staff and best athletic department that I could work for and with the best midshipmen every single day. None of this would've been possible without them!"
Next up for Navy is game two of its four-game homestand on Thursday. Starting at 7 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, the Mids will host the Saint Mary's Gaels.
NOTE: Active NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Coaches with 400+ Wins
1-Jerry Smith, Santa Clara (564-186-75)
2-Gabe Mejail, Merrimack (526-280-74)
3-G Guerrieri, Texas A&M (521-185-56)
4-Steve Swanson, Virginia (493-176-75)
5-Jennifer Rockwood, BYU (468-137-63)
6-Jim Blankenship, FGCU (461-160-49)
7-Paul Ratcliffe, Stanford (453-107-48)
8-Nikki Izzo-Brown, West Virginia (419-152-75)
9-John Hedlund, North Texas (404-162-51)
10-
Carin Gabarra, Navy (400-202-66)
