RADFORD, Va. - The Navy women's soccer team kicked off its five-game road trip in emphatic fashion with a 5-0 victory over Radford on Thursday. A red card issued to the Highlanders' (2-4) Caitlyn Nottingham in the third minute dramatically changed the makeup of the game as the Mids (5-2-1) were able to impose their style of play with added pace and pressure to slowly turn a 1-0 first half lead into an eventual wide-open five-goal victory at Cupp Memorial Stadium. Offensively, Navy netted its five goals via five different players over 10 shots on goal, while Radford only recorded four total shots, none of which were on goal.
The quartet of Mids to find the back of the net on Thursday night at Radford consisted of
Jessica Black (So., Cedaredge, Colo.),
Ande Swan (Jr., Sugar Land, Texas),
Chiara Cosenza (Sr., Westfield, N.J.),
Faith Graziano (So., Middlebury, Conn.) and
Katia Katsari-Hoefer (So., Herndon, Va.).Â
"Every time we win on the road, it's a good thing because its not an easy thing to do in this game," remarked head coach
Carin Gabarra. "When Radford went down a man early, we had to change our tactics a bit. We had to find some composure. At halftime, we weren't satisfied with only one goal lead, so we re-grouped and made some adjustments. A lot of players pressed a little bit more. We pressured them much higher and deeper down the field and were able to make them speed up and feel rushed.
"We played a lot different players tonight, eight of whom got either a goal or an assist. I'm super happy with our effort. Our possession got better throughout the game, and I think we learned a lot and improved over the 90 minutes. We're happy with five goals from five different players; we're happy with the amount of players who received minutes tonight, and we're excited to move on to the next one."
The red card assessed to Nottingham in the third minute when she tackled Cosenza as the last defender on a breakaway completely flipped the mindset and strategy of the contest. Radford moved towards an extremely conservative and passive strategy, while Navy ratcheted up their speed and intensity of defending, though almost to a detriment as the action became a bit frenetic for some time after the red card. Black registered the Mids' first threatening look as she held off a physical challenge from a Highlander defender and whipped a right-footed shot that had eyes for the far upper-90 of the goal, but clanged off the post in the 20th minute.
Black continued to lead Navy's all-out press from the front and her buzzing defensive effort turned into the game's first goal at 28:38 when she intercepted an attempted clearance deep in Radford's defensive third and took three dribbles before slotting home a shot low past the goalkeeper.
The Mids kept up the hunt for goal number two over the remaining 16-plus minutes of the first half, but were shut out in that quest as they had to settle for a 1-0 lead going into the locker room at halftime. As a team, Navy out-shot Radford, 11-3 in the opening 45 minutes of action.
After re-grouping at halftime and making some strategic adjustments, the Mids' activity in the second half blew the game wide open as the Highlanders constantly had issues trying to get the ball out of their half of the field as they struggled to connect passes. Navy made it 2-0 in short order as a high, looping corner kick by Cosenza took a fortuitous bounce out to Swan, who took a touch to gather the ball and calmly lofted it over the defense and goalkeeper at 51:51. The goal was the first of Swan's career as the junior focuses the majority of her game on being a lockdown defensive midfielder.
Less than seven minutes later at 58:20, Cosenza was on the receiving end of a bouncing ball off a set piece as
Kayana Adlam's (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) initial free kick shot on goal was saved by the goalie, but immediately deflected out to the Cosenza, who easily put away the ball into the gapping net.
Navy continued to trot out fresh players and keep up the breakneck pace of full-field defensive pressure. Newly-inserted into the contest,
Malia Harding (Fr., Gilroy, Calif.) made an impact just over six minutes into her stint on the field as she forced a turnover deep in Radford's defensive third and found Graziano inside the 18 for a loosely marked look at goal. Graziano didn't hesitate and quickly turned it into a 4-0 lead for the Mids at 71:25.
The second half barrage concluded 91 seconds later with Navy's fifth and final goal of the game courtesy of another turnover on Radford's side of the pitch and a series of crisp and succinct passes from the Mids' midfield. Well-constructed passing action between Harding, Sofia Ryan (Fr., Solon, Ohio), Graziano and finally Katsari-Hoefer resulted in goal number five.Â
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For the game, Navy out-shot Radford, 22-4 with a substantial 10-0 advantage in shots on goal. The Mids' control of the action also carried over to corner kicks were the visitors held a 7-1 margin over the Highlanders.
Natasha Stramrood (Jr., Cypress, Texas) and
Cadence Tordai (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) split time in goal for the Mids on Thursday night and recorded the clean sheet without having to face a shot.
Next up for Navy is a short trip up the road to Lexington, Virginia for a Sunday afternoon showdown with the VMI Keydets. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
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