Balanced Attack Leads Navy Past Niagara, 3-1

September 2, 2016

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Early goals in both the first and second half helped the Navy women’s soccer defeat Niagara, 3-1, Friday night at Niagara Soccer Field. The Mids improved to 1-3-1, while the Purple Eagles fell to 1-3-1.

“It is always good to get the first one out of the way,” Navy head coach Carin Gabarra said on grabbing the first victory of 2016. “I was proud to see that we learned from some of mistakes from previous matches to get the victory. We still need to get sharper, but tonight was a step in the right direction.”

Navy found offensive production from an array of players as junior forward Clare MacAdam (Palmyra, N.J.), sophomore midfielder Eleanor Pratt (New Orleans, La.) and freshman midfielder Cadie Higginson (New Orleans, La.) all tallied goal. Juniors Natalie Dzhandzhapanyan (Diamond Bar, Calif.) and Madeline Ostrowski (Annapolis, Md.) and sophomores Ash Fairow (Jacksonville, N.C.) and Karli Sottung (Westfield, N.J.) each chipped in with an assist.

“We had a very good team performance, both offensively and defensively,” said Gabarra. “We managed a good defensive effort that did not allow many significant opportunities and the offense responded with three good goals.”

The Mids opened the match with the game’s first goal in the 20^th minute. Following a Navy corner kick that was batted away from the box, the Mids capitalized on a failed clear. Sottung took possession of the ball and sent a looping pass over the Niagara backline to MacAdam, who snuck past the defenders and headed in her third goal of the season.

With a 1-0 lead heading into the second half, Navy tallied its second goal just 13 seconds after the whistle was blown to begin the half. Fairow and Dzhandzhapanyan each passed to one another before dishing off to Pratt inside Niagara’s defensive third. Pratt took one touch and launched a rocket to the upper 90 of net that beat goalkeeper Shania van Nuland to extend Navy’s lead to two, 2-0.

Niagara responded in the 63^rd minute to cut the deficit to one, 2-1. Courtney Betts teed up a pass atop the box for teammate Assisa Sidhoum, who sent a one-timer towards net. Sidhoum’s shot deflected off a Navy defender to redirect in the opposite way that Navy senior goalkeeper Dayton Wetherby (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) was anticipating and went into the near post.

With the game close at hand, Navy found itself on the attacking in the 71^st minute. Ostrowski dribbled inside Niagara territory and sent a through ball to Higginson, who found herself one-on-one with van Nuland. Higginson took two touches and chipped her shot over van Nuland to put the match away with her third of the season.

Navy held advantages over Niagara in shots, 18-8, shots on goal, 9-6, and corner kicks, 4-1.

Wetherby finished the contest with five saves on six chances.

Navy will wrap up its four-match road trip at the University of Buffalo on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.