BOSTON - The 2026 Patriot League season opener was filled with highs and lows for the Navy women's soccer team on Saturday afternoon as the visitors made a dramatic team save and immediately followed it up with go-ahead goal within the first 20 minutes of action versus Boston University before the host Terriers (4-5-1, 1-0 PL) flipped the script and scored twice in the final 20 minutes of play to earn the 2-1 victory over the Mids (7-4-1, 1-0 PL) at Nickerson Field.
Stella Jones (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.) and
Chiara Cosenza (Sr., Westfield, N.J.) provided the early fireworks for Navy as Jones was responsibility for deflecting away a no-doubt Boston goal in the 16th minute before assisting on Cosenza's one-timer shot and goal just four minutes later to give the Mids an early 1-0 lead. In goal on Saturday afternoon, junior
Natasha Stramrood (Cypress, Texas) turned aside six Terrier shots on goal.
"This is a tough result to walk away with considering we held the lead at the 70th minute mark and were in position to earn a tie into the final minute of play," remarked head coach
Carin Gabarra. "It's always difficult to win on the road and on turf, but this outcome can be tied to our failure to do the little things right especially in the second half. We're disappointed in our 1-v-1 defending late in the game and decision making with the ball. When we had opportunities to get into their territory, we made poor decisions and didn't value the ball. We must learn from today's game because there's no let up in conference play, we'll have to re-group and be ready for Colgate next Saturday."
After a brief period of feeling each other out over the first 10 minutes of play, the action reached a fever pitch with the ball zipping up and down the artificial turf of Nickerson Field. The Terriers looked to break into the scoring column first off a corner kick opportunity and nearly did in the 16th minute as Helene Tyburczy's shot on goal was saved by Stramrood before Ciara Kennedy gathered the rebound and unleashed a shot that had eyes for the back of the net if not for the gutsy effort of Jones, who backed up her goalkeeper and used her body to deflect the attempt away from danger.
The Mids used that huge momentum swing to their favor and jumped into the lead less than four minutes later when Jones fed Cosenza for a one-time right-footed snipe into the far side of the net at 19:46.
Up 1-0, Navy rode out the final 25-plus minutes of the first half in solid form as it held BU to just three off-target shots and two corner kick chances.
Coming out of the locker room trailing by a goal, the host Terriers were locked in search of that game-tying tally, while the Mids were charged with holding onto the clean sheet against a squad that won the 2025 Patriot League Regular Season Championship. The tone was set early as Stramrood was called upon just 39 seconds into the second period to make a save on an attempt by Kat Slott. 17 minutes later in the 63rd minute of action, she once again denied Slott to keep it a 1-0 score in favor of Navy.
The Mids' first look at notching an insurance goal came in the 69th minute when
Sophia Ryan (Fr., Solon, Ohio)Â sprinted into the box with the ball and ripped a shot straight for bottom right corner of the goal. At the last minute, Bridget Carr, the Terriers' goalkeeper dove to slow down the shot before a BU defender swept the loose ball away before it could trickle across the goal line.
The opportunity was unfortunately, Navy's only shot on goal in the second half as constant pressure by Boston made transitioning from defense-to-offense quite tricky for the Mids on Saturday. That fact also meant that Navy would be in complete defense-mode for the final 20 minutes of play. The Terriers were able to take advantage of possession-after-possession on the positive side of the pitch to eventually draw even in the 73rd minute on Kat Slott goal.
With the score knotted at 1-1, Stramrood did her best to earn her squad a hard-fought point in the league standings with three more saves in the ensuing 17 minutes, but her efforts went for naught as BU's fourth shot on goal of this final stretch of play found the back of the net courtesy of Georgia Prouty with just 33 seconds left in regulation.
For the game, BU out-shot Navy, 24-7 with a substantial 9-2 edge in shots on goal for the hosts. The Terriers also out-numbered the Mids in corner kick opportunities, 10-2 on Saturday.
Navy will now head home to Annapolis and turn its attention to its league home opener next Saturday versus Colgate. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. between the Mids and Raiders.Â
