ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Traveling westward to begin the 2026 campaign, the Navy men's soccer team dropped its season opener to UC San Diego, 7-0, on Thursday evening at the Triton Soccer Stadium in La Jolla, Calif.
Despite Navy being able to keep the game competitive for much of the opening 45 minutes after Oren Stuppel's early brace, a third Triton goal in the closing moments of first half was a sign of what was to come in the final 45 minutes, as the hosts added four more goals before the final whistle.
While Navy went on the offensive from the opening kick with
Duncan Sullivan forcing a Nic Thiele save in the first 30 seconds of the game, UC San Diego got an early tally when Sean McTague beat a Navy defender on the right touchline and crossed it to Stuppel for a fifth-minute tap-in. After Thiele stopped
Gavin McBride at 7', Stuppel beat the Mids' defenders again to collect his brace with a kick inside the right post.
With both sides pushing pace, Navy was called offsides at 21' to spoil an attacking chance while the Tritons added their third goal at 45' when Kelham Wolf finished off a play from Gavin Carlson and Cael McElderry near the right post.
With UCSD driving action in the opening minutes of the second half, Carmody made a pair of saves at 50' and 54' while a Triton offsides call in the 55th minute kept the score at 3-0. Three more saves from Carmody in the span of less than a minute on Gavin Allegaert shortly after helped Navy gain momentum briefly, but McTague beat Carmody on the short side in the 61st minute to get his own tally and Jack Nishimoto caught the Navy defense out of position near the end line at 67' to make it 5-0.
Ryan Namdar then headed home the sixth UC San Diego goal at 74' off an Adam Dunbar cross, while Namdar registered the second part of his brace in the 85th minute to round out the scoring.
Head Coach John Hackworth Comments
"Tonight was definitely not our night. Instead of getting better after a tough start and a competitive first half, the team let the game get away from them in the second half, which is not indicative of this program's resilient culture. It was a humiliating loss, but we have to use that as motivation heading into Sunday's contest and the rest of the season."
Match Notes
• Navy moves to 70-21-15 all-time in season openers.
•
Liam Plum,
Jack Illig,
Cohen Nance,
Denis Pauze and
Chase Paige all made their Navy debuts on Thursday evening.
• The game also marked the first regular-season contest for head coach
John Hackworth at the helm.
• Carmody's five saves marked a career high.
Up Next
Navy will complete its time out west with a 3:00 p.m. ET (noon PT) match at San Diego State on Sunday.
