ANNAPOLIS, Md. – An all-around effort on both sides of the ball gave Navy its first win of the 2013 season, 5-0, over The Citadel on Sunday, Aug. 25 at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The Midshipmen saw four different goal scorers and a combined shutout from three goalkeepers.

“We came to play today with a lot more commitment and motivation,” said Head Coach Carin Gabarra on the win. “I like the way we generated chances, we saw a lot of bodies on attack and we worked hard. However, we do need to work on our speed of play and get better moving forward.

For the second straight game, Morgan Dankanich and Kaylie Davidson scored the first two goals for the Midshipmen. Courtney Mason and Cat Macklin each scored their first goals of the season as well.

With just four minutes into the contest, Navy’s Rachel Hunter was able to send the game’s first corner kick to teammate Davidson for a one-timer passed The Citadel goalkeeper Naomi Carter to give the Mids a 1-0 lead.

Moment later, Hunter began an offensive attack with a volley from one side of the field into the box. Midshipmen Dankanich was on the receiving end of the volley, settled the pass with one touch and lobbed the shot over Carter to extend Navy’s lead to two, 2-0.

As time was winding down in the first half, Navy’s Courtney Hook led the offensive attack, passing by two Bulldog defenders and sent a pass to her streaking teammate, Cat Macklin. Macklin received the pass in-stride and beat the goalkeeper to the near post pushing the Midshipmen lead to 3-0. Macklin’s goal was her first collegiate goal of her career.

With a 3-0 lead at the start of the second half, Navy wasted no time for another offensive opportunity. Midshipmen Kahra Kelty sent a cross from the left side of the field into the box. The cross was redirected off of The Citadel’s Grace Raines foot, intended to send it out-of-bounds, but ended up in her own net. The Mids led 4-0 in the 56^th minute of the contest.

With two minutes to play, the Midshipmen pushed for one final offensive opportunity in the contest. Dankanich sent a cross into the middle of the box. The cross was battled between two Bulldog defenders and teammates Paloma Perez and Courtney Mason. Mason successfully grabbed possession of the ball, curved her shot passed The Citadel goalkeeper for the fifth and final goal of the match.

Navy goalkeeper Elizabeth Hoerner earned the win, playing the full 45 minutes of the first half and tallied one save. Dayton Wetherby started the second half and Kalli Schulz finished the final 11 minutes for the Mids for the first combined shutout of the season. The Citadel goalkeeper Naomi Carter faced 11 shots and saved seven of them through 57 minutes of play. Teammate Sarah Katchen replaced Carter, following an undisclosed injury, and made two saves on three chances.

The Midshipmen will wrap-up their three-game homestand on Friday, Aug. 30 against North Florida at 7 p.m. Friday’s contest is “Back to School Night”, which celebrates the beginning of the school year by giving out free school supplies to kids 12 and under while supplies last.

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