CHESTER, Pa. – In a matchup of the top-two teams in the Patriot League with service academy bragging rights on the line, the Navy and Army women's soccer teams battled to a 0-0 draw on Friday in the 2026 Star Match. Playing at Subaru Park, home of the MLS' Philadelphia Union, the Mids (10-4-2, 3-1-1 PL) had a pair of quality looks in the first half go for naught before leaning on its defense and goalkeeping to deny both the Black Knights' (7-6-1, 4-0-1 PL) shots on goal in the second half. Physical and passionate competition was the overriding theme of the contest with 28 combined fouls called and numerous more hard-fought clashes on the pitch over the 90 minutes of action.
Junior goalkeeper
Natasha Stramrood (Cypress, Texas) earned the clean sheet for Navy with two saves. Freshman
Sophia Ryan (Solon, Ohio) and senior
Chiara Cosenza (Westfield, N.J.) were credited with the shots on goal for the Mids.
"Army-Navy games are always fun to be a part of," remarked head coach
Carin Gabarra. "We love coming here, the Union and Subaru Park put on a great event. They were outstanding hosts and I hope we produced a good game to watch for all the fans.
"It was a good close contest. Both teams played very well defensively, stepped up when needed and fought hard. It was a good game with a fair result. We lacked some composure in the big moments but we did create some chances. I think the difference today was that possession was difficult for both teams. We both pressed high and worked extremely hard. Like every Army-Navy match, both teams had a lot of emotions put into the game. Both teams didn't have a whole ton of possession, but that's happens in a game like this. We're excited to move forward and continue Patriot League play."
The magnitude of the 2026 Star Match was apparent from the opening whistle as intense defending resulted in five combined fouls over the first nine minutes of action.
Navy broke through with the game's first high percentage look in the 16th minute when the team worked the ball up the left wing before
Jessica Black (So., Cedaredge, Colo.) crisply slotted a pass into the center of the field to Cosenza, who continued moving the ball to the right wing where Ryan collected the ball, dribbled twice and ripped a shot that forced Army's goalkeeper Karalyn Dail to leap up and extend her arm to defend the top corner of the goal.
Cosenza had her chance to take aim at the goal 11 minutes later with a shot on frame that Dail smothered to keep it a 0-0 score.
Following that shot more physical play closed out the final 19 minutes of the half with only two errant shots by the Mids being recorded.
Coming out of the locker room with the teams deadlocked at 0-0, Army quickly found space in Navy's defensive third and in within a run of four minutes received corner kick opportunity and put two shots on frame. In both cases, Bella Conti's effort in the 52nd minute and Sophia Henry's in the 55th, Stramrood was up to the task and easily grabbed both shots.
Over the next 35 minutes, lengthy well-built possessions were extremely hard to come by as the Mids only had time and space to get two shots off, while the Black Knights got four hurried off-target shots off.
Strong and constant defensive pressure was the overriding factor as the game closed out with both teams held off the scoreboard as part of a 0-0 final.
For the contest, Army out-shot Navy, 8-6 with both squads recording two shots on goal. The Black Knights had a significant edge in corner kick opportunities with a 7-0 margin on Friday. The foul tally finished with Army getting whistled 15 times with Navy getting called for 13 fouls.
Friday's women's match was the first of three Army-Navy showdowns on the day. The women's and men's soccer doubleheader, as well as the volleyball contest at West Point are all part of the 2025-26 Army-Navy Series presented by USAA.
Navy will turn its attention to the second half of its Patriot League slate with a clash with Bucknell ahead next Friday, Oct. 16 in Annapolis.
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