ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's soccer team kick-started its busy three-game week with a dominant 4-0 win over Marywood University on Tuesday. With matchups with Maryland and Marist lying straight ahead on Thursday and Sunday, the Mids (2-2-1) showcased their deep and talented in victory over the Pacers (0-0) as four different players scored, including three freshmen, who tallied their first career goals.
Sophia Ryan (Fr., Solon, Ohio),
Mary Kate DeBono (Fr., West Nyack, N.Y.),
Alex Donoghue (Fr., Chatham, N.J.) and
Katia Katsari-Hoefer (So., Herndon, Va.) all found the back of the net for Navy on Tuesday with each of the first three goal scorers adding assists to their individual offensive outputs. Additional assists came from
Sona Gonzales (So., Henderson, Nev.) and
Lizzie Fetterman (So., Bay Village, Ohio).
The goalkeeping trio of
Shea Best (Fr., Gibsonia, Pa.),
Cadence Tordai (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) and
Lauren Morada (Fr., Dublin, Calif.) combined for the shutout with two saves between the group.
As the NCAA Division III season doesn't officially start until Sept. 1, Tuesday's contest goes into the books as an exhibition for the Pacers and a win for the Mids.
"We got a lot of good minutes for our players, we deepened our fitness and we played to the high standard of Navy Women's Soccer today," remarked head coach
Carin Gabarra. "I thought we finished well on our goals. We hit a lot of good, strong shots on frame and created a lot of chances, but we want to make better decisions, especially in the attacking third. Our possessions are getting better game-by-game, but our decisions on-and-off the ball need to be a little better.
"Overall, this was a good result. It was a fun game to watch and we got three of our goals from freshmen and all four from underclassmen, which is always fun."
The regular season champions from the Atlantic East conference last fall, Marywood was up to the task early against a fiery and anxious Navy squad. The Mids recorded seven shots within the first 15 minutes of play with three testing the Pacers' goalkeeper Genevieve Morrison. Best turned aside Marywood's first and only shot on goal of the first half as she gathered Samantha Margolis' attempt in the 18th minute.
The Mids continued peppering Morrison with shots on goal in the 26th and 29th minute, until finally the ball found its way in the back of the net courtesy of a lead pass into space by Fetterman and a dribble in towards goal and shot by Ryan by 36:21.
A similar lead pass and sprint into space connection resulted in Navy's second goal less than five minutes later when Ryan was the facilitator for DeBono's first career score at 41:05.
The second half nearly mirror the first as the Mids constantly applied pressure in the attacking third and recorded shot-after-shot in the box score before breaking through late. Two of Navy's near goals came in the 56th minute when Ryan's blistering shot passed the goalkeeper, but clanged off the crossbar before Gonzales was denied by the crossbar in the 80th minute.
In a matter of two minutes and two seconds, the Mids doubled their lead as a crisp series of passes between Gonzales, DeBono and finally to Donoghue netted Navy goal number three at 82:56 and goal number four at 84:58 when Donoghue fed Katsari-Hoefer for a shot and score.
For the game, Navy out-shot Marywood 33-3 with a substantial 13-2 advantage in shots on goal. The host Midshipmen also held a 6-3 edge in corner kick opportunities.
"Now we look ahead to Maryland on Thursday," said Gabarra in closing. "Its an in-state rivalry that's always competitive and super exciting. We're happy to be able to host the game this year and look forward to having our Midshipmen, Naval Academy and Annapolis supporters out at Glenn Warner."
Next up for Navy is an intrastate showdown on Thursday evening versus the University of Maryland. Kickoff between the Mids and Terrapins is set for 7 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
