Oct. 9, 2009

Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Sophomore Stephanie Lomeli (Glendale, Ariz.) scored the eventual game-winner in the late stages of the opening half and junior Carissa Youker (Potomac, Md.) added an insurance goal in the 64th minute, leading the Navy women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over archrival Army on Friday night before a Glenn Warner Soccer Facility record crowd of 2,627.

The win pushes Navy's record to 10-2-2 and 1-0-1 in the Patriot League, marking the 15th-consecutive season in which the Midshipmen have won 10 or more games. Army, meanwhile, falls to 5-6-2 overall and 0-1-1 in league play.

"It was a total team effort from start to finish," said Navy head coach Carin Gabarra, who now owns a 10-8-2 record all-time versus the Black Knights. "Beating Army is obviously a big deal for us because they are our rivals, but what it really comes down to is it is a league game and winning in league play is always our top priority. Adding the Star is just wonderful for our players.

"A victory like this is not only important to our players, but also to our alumni and all those people who have helped to build this program to where it is today. I told the girls before the game, and as we often talk about, when we play, we are playing for the entire Navy and Marine Corps. Everyone. That's really a big deal for us and we play with a lot of pride because of that."

The announced crowd of 2,627 was the largest in the nine-year history of the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, including both men's and women's contests. The largest previous crowd to attend a soccer game at GWSF came on October 26, 2006 when the Mids upset then-No. 9-ranked Penn State in a 1-0 win.

"The crowd was huge," remarked Gabarra. "It was an incredible atmosphere out there tonight. The entire brigade really showed its support tonight and it means the world to us."

The contest looked like it would be scoreless after the first-45 minutes, but some late Navy pressure resulted in Lomeli's third career goal with just 25 ticks left on the clock.

Junior Christine Calderon (Yorktown, Va.) made a determined run through traffic in the middle of the field before playing the ball wide to the right side to Lomeli, who lofted a right-footed shot over the keeper's outstretched arms and just inside the far post.

"It was amazing," said Lomeli on what stood to be her first career game-winner. "I couldn't believe it. Christy (Calderon) battled through three players to get me that ball on the outside and I knew I just had to bury it for the team."

The score, which came on Navy's first shot on goal in the half, sent the record-crowd into a frenzy and gave the Mids control of the match's momentum headed into the break. Navy outshot the Black Knights, 8-5 in the first half and drew four corners to Army's lone attempt.

Prior to Lomeli's tally, Navy had generated the best opportunity of the half in the 21st minute, when Brittany White (Carmel, Ind.) almost nearly broke the deadlock with the Army keeper drawn out of her goal, but her shot rang off the left-inside post.

Riding high from the late score, Navy carried the possession right from the opening whistle of the second half. In the 64th minute, the Mids' relentlessness paid off as Youker scored her team-leading and career-high-tying seventh goal of the season at 63:16 on assists from White and Navy goalkeeper Beth Reed to cap the scoring for the evening.

Carissa Youker scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 64th minute to give Navy a two-goal cushion in the second half

After a Mids' defender played the ball back to Reed, she sent a booming kick to near midfield where Brittany White did well to get in position and headed the ball down the field through a seam in the Army defense.

Youker, who leads the Patriot League in scoring with 18 points (7 g, 4 a), won the 50-50 ball with a huge burst of speed, earning separation from the defense, and carried the ball down the middle of the field into the box where she beat the keeper 1v1 to give the Mids a two-goal advantage and some much-welcomed breathing room.

It was the first career assist for Reed, who also made five saves on the evening to record her seventh shutout this season and third in as many games. The Mids have now blanked nine of their 14 opponents this season.

"It was a incredible atmosphere tonight with such a great crowd and a lot of fans for both teams which made it even better," said Reed. "Our offense came up huge and our defense played great in front of me. It was a total team effort."

On the final stat sheet, Navy finished with a 13-8 edge in shots, putting four on target, and a 5-1 advantage in corners drawn.

With the win, Navy is now 3-1-1 in its last five meetings against Army and owns a 10-8-2 edge in the all-time series.

"We worked so hard for this game, ever since we lost in last year's final," said Lomeli, Navy's hero of the night. "It was definitely payback time."

Navy returns to action Sunday when it plays host to Patriot League foe Holy Cross (6-5-1, 1-1-0 PL). Game time is set for 1 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Fans who bring their ticket stub from Friday's night's game will be admitted to Sunday's soccer contest free of charge.

Match Notes:
*With the win, Navy improves to 2-1 in Star Game competitions against Army this year.

*Navy remains unbeaten in its last 15 Patriot League regular-season contests (10-0-5) dating back to 2006.

*There are currently 321 Division I women's soccer programs and entering 2009, Navy was among only 10 programs to have won 10 or more games in every season since 1998.

*The largest crowd in program history came during the 2003 season when Navy hosted top-ranked and eventual national champion North Carolina in front of 6,527 fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (9/26/2003).

*Tonight's Star Game marked the 20th all-time meeting between the Mids and Black Knights. It was also a rematch of the 2008 Patriot League Championship game, also held in Annapolis.

*A year ago, the Army and Navy played to a pair of double-overtime contests and a full 215:15 of soccer before the first goal was scored by either side.

*An Early Birthday Celebration: Stephanie Lomeli's game-winner comes almost one year to the day of her first collegiate goal, scored on October 10, 2008 in a 4-0 shutout of Lehigh. The date holds an extra bit of significance to the second-year midfielder as it is also the day she was born some 20 years ago (October 10, 1989). "Hopefully it will become a yearly tradition," said Lomeli.

## GO NAVY! ##