FARMVILLE, Va. – Striking first and using depth to support a stout defense, the Navy men's soccer team (2-2-4) pulled out the 2-0 win at Longwood (5-2) on a physical Tuesday night at the Longwood Athletics Complex in Farmville, Va.
Spurred on in a chippy contest by
Jack Illig's second-career goal at 21' to gave them the lead, the Midshipmen then showed grit as the squad's depth was tested before
Ronan Harding's 78th-minute tally and a last-minute penalty-kick save from goalkeeper
Sam Clark sealed the win for Navy. The victory also gave the Mids their fourth clean sheet of the season, with Clark registering six saves on the evening against a Lancers team that was receiving votes in the national rankings just two weeks ago.
While Tor Fletcher made some early saves on a
Gavin McBride header at 8' and
Duncan Sullivan's shot in the ninth minute, Clark matched him by stopping a pair of clear attempts at 16' and 17'. Navy finally got one past Fletcher in the 21st minute, as
Will Cawlfield crossed a ball from the wing to Sullivan, who then touched it right to a crashing Illig that the rookie buried for his second collegiate goal.
The Mids then were able to block a pair of Lancer shots when Longwood tried to answer back in the middle part of the half, and Navy then launched three shots off-target as the opening 45 minutes were more physical and chippy, including a wide-open
Nick Gallucci putting his 38' attempt just over the cage.
In a second half that maintained the physical nature from before the intermission, Navy got some opportunities in the first few minutes but Longwood nearly evened the game at 51' when Levon Saribekyan's cross hit the left post before being cleared. With the Mids continuing to get in front of the Lancers' shots, one finally got through in the 70th minute from Joshwa Campbell that Clark was able to fall on.
With Harding and
Denis Pauze subbing in up front at 72', the duo made an immediate impact when Pauze let a shot rip on Fletcher within a minute of entering and helped withstand several Longwood pushes. After a Navy clearance in the 78th minute found Harding downfield and he quickly knocked it down to dish it to Pauze, Pauze then fed the streaking Harding as he beat a Longwood defender, with Harding depositing it past Fletcher for his first collegiate goal in his first regular-season appearance for the Mids.
Clark made two more saves, first on Ezrah Serralde at 83' and Benjamin Ferrero at 84', before a late Navy foul in the box set up Campbell for the 89th-minute penalty kick. Guessing correctly, Clark dove right to stop Campbell and then scrambled to cover the rebound, preserving his fourth shutout of the campaign.
Head Coach John Hackworth's Comments
"I'm really proud of the guys. I thought we played a really good first half and scored a great goal. Something we've been trying to do a lot in training is to build off how we move the ball forward and how we unbalance our opponent, and that goal is a perfect example of that. Second half turned into just being gritty and defending like crazy, dealing with a lot of the craziness that is college soccer, then we brought a couple guys off the bench in Ronan and Denis. Shoutout to Ronan, it's his first game and his first goal. He hadn't even been on a travel or gameday roster yet this year, but in his first chance he absolutely took the opportunity. That's what we want all of our players to do. We're working hard collectively and we want the competitiveness in training. When a guy like Ronan gets his chance and capitalizes, it's wonderful for him individually but also for us as a team to see that work come to fruition."
Match Notes
• Navy improves to 8-6-1 in the all-time series with Longwood.
• Cawlfield's assist marked his third of the season, tying him with Gallucci for the team lead.
• Clark's four shutouts are the most by a Navy goalkeeper since Pierce Holbrook posted five clean sheets in 2023.
Up Next
Navy returns home on Saturday to host Boston University at 1:00 p.m.
