COLLEGE ROUNDUP
NAVY MEN’S SOCCER: The Navy men's soccer team dropped its second-straight match to start the 2018 season following a 2-1 set back at NJIT on Monday afternoon in Hillside, N.J.
The Highlanders (2-0-0) scored two goals in a five-minute span to take a 2-0 lead over the Midshipmen (0-2-0) after 16 minutes of play. Nicko West was the lone goal scorer for the Mids in the match. “The effort we gave today to try and come from behind was good to see,” head coach Tim O'Donohue remarked after the match. “We have to learn and improve. I like how we have played as a team, but we have some early lessons to learn from. NJIT was opportunistic early and it was too much to overcome.”
Navy returns home on Friday night to host Air Force at 7 p.m. from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to start a four-match homestand.
Also on Monday, Matt Nocita earned his first career Patriot League Rookie of the Week accolade. In Navy's season opener against Manhattan last Friday, Nocita started at center back in his first collegiate appearance. He played all 90 minutes in the 1-0 loss and allowed the Jaspers to record just four shots on target.
Navy opens a four-match homestand on Friday night at 7 p.m. against Air Force at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, before capping off the week on Sunday against College of Charleston at 7 p.m. from the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
NAVY WOMEN’S SOCCER: When the final whistle sounded after 110 minutes of hard fought action, the Mids (2-1-1) and visiting Maryland (2-1-1) were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw on Sunday evening at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
Sydney Fortson made three saves in net for the Midshipmen as the hosts recorded their third straight shutout and lowered their team goals against average to 0.47 (two goals over 380 minutes) this season. “I like the way we're playing,” remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. “We're getting a lot of players minutes and those players are giving us great energy and lifting the team up when they get on the field. That's what we ask of those players; to always give us a boost.
“I'm proud of our defending effort. Our 1v1 and our team defending was very good tonight. We were tight, we were disciplined and in transition we kept the ball and attacked well out of that. We're controlling the ball well, but we just need to convert our chances. That'll be our focus moving forward; we just need to be a little better in the attacking third.”
On Monday, junior defender Baseley McClaskey was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week. The Grand Junction, Colo. native played a leading role in the Mids going 1-0-1 with a pair of shutout decisions over the weekend. After opening the season with four straight home games the Mids will hit the road next weekend for a pair of games in North Carolina. On Friday (4 p.m.), Gardner-Webb will host Navy in Boiling Springs, N.C. before Western Carolina does the same on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Cullowhee, N.C.
MARYLAND FIELD HOCKEY: The fourth-ranked Maryland field hockey beat UC Davis, 6-1, in Berkeley Monday afternoon to wrap up a dominant three-game California trip. Over their three games on the West Coast, the Terrapins (3-0) outscored their opponents 14-1, led by five goals by junior Nike Lorenz and four from senior tri-captain Linnea Gonzales. Lorenz was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Monday after her first week as a Terrapin.