WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy men’s soccer team (11-5-1, 5-4-0 Patriot League) fell on the road to American (8-4-4, 6-2-1 Patriot League), 3-1, in its final regular-season match of the 2021 season Wednesday at the Eagles’ Reeves Athletic Complex.
With the loss, the Midshipmen finish their Patriot League schedule with 15 points on five league victories and will now await the conclusion of Wednesday’s league contests to determine where they will be seeded in the Patriot League Tournament field.
“It was a very frustrating game,” said head coach Tim O’Donohue. “We dominated the ball, shots and chances but did not come away with the result we wanted. They were very opportunistic with their chances and their goalkeeper made two great saves along with one of our shots hitting the post.
“They countered and sometimes that’s how the game goes. We have to turn the switch quickly and pivot right away.”
Navy opened the contest on the attack, posting each of the games first three shots before Jacob Williams (Sr., Millersville, Md.) converted on a pass from Sidney Paris (So., Oakville, Onatrio), ripping a shot into the bottom-right corner of the net for his sixth score of the season, giving the Mids a one-score advantage at the 13:47 mark.
However, the advantage proved to be short lived for the Midshipmen as American tied the score just 45 seconds later when Jerry Zouantcha fired a set piece from Robert Matei into the back of the net to tie the score at 1-1.
Navy continued to push the pace on offense following the score by the Eagles, recording a 9-2 shot advantage over the final 31 minutes of the first half that included a pair of attempts on goal by the duo of Cristian Coelho (So., Katy, Texas) and David Jackson (So., Cypress, Texas). The American back line held strong despite the flurry of attempts by Navy, stifling the shots on goal by Coelho and Jackson to maintain the draw heading into halftime.
Coming out of the break, the Mids continued to push for a go-ahead score, earning two corner-kick attempts through the first 10 minutes of action in the second half, but were unable convert as a pair of attempts by Williams were forced wide to hold the score at 1-1.
The defensive stalemate continued until the 77th minute, when the Eagles took their first lead of the day as Zouantcha caromed a pass from Evan Schweickert into the goal to give American a one-score advantage on his second goal of the day.
Clinging to a one-score lead in the 89th minute after defending a pair of corner-kick tries by the Mids, American netted its third goal of the game as Matei intercepted a pass from the Navy back line and sent a strike into the back the net for his third goal of the year, securing a 3-1 victory for the Eagles.
Williams paced the Midshipmen attack with three shots and a goal while Paris and Baba Kallie (So., Coatesville, Pa.) also tallied three shots apiece. Rounding out the top-offensive performers for Navy were Coelho and Jackson who each recorded two shots, one being on goal. Tyler Fahning (Sr., Victoria, Minn.) allowed three goals for the first time this season while picking up two saves in the loss.
American was led on offense by Zouantcha, who scored twice, along with Matei finishing with a goal and an assist. Goalkeeper Dominic Dominguez earned the win after allowing one goal and recording three saves.
UP NEXT
Navy will await the results of the final four Patriot League matches set to be played tonight to determine its seeding for the Patriot League Tournament. With a Lehigh loss or tie against Colgate, the Midshipmen would be the No. 4 seed and host either the Mountain Hawks or rival Army at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility on Saturday at noon. Should Lehigh defeat Colgate, the Mountain Hawks would earn the No. 4 seed and therefore host the Mids for a quarterfinal match.
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