July 7, 2008
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Thirteen home dates and an early-season West Coast trip featuring a matchup with Pac-10 power Stanford highlight the 2008 Navy women's soccer schedule, as announced by head coach Carin Gabarra. The Mids return eight starters and 15 letterwinners from last year's squad that posted a 14-5-4 mark and carried the Patriot League banner into the 2007 NCAA Tournament, marking the program's second consecutive NCAA appearance and third in the last five seasons.
Navy opens its 16th season of varsity competition when it hosts Vermont on August 23 at 1 p.m. The match marks the first of 13 home games the Mids will host at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, where they turned in an undefeated home mark (9-0-1) in 2007 and boast an impressive 23-1-1 record (.940) over the last two seasons.
"As we have always tried to do in the past, this year's schedule is very challenging," said Gabarra. "We try to play the top level Division I teams to peak at the right time near the end of the season. We will have a talented team, and we will aspire to win Patriot League and go to NCAA's again, but our league opponents are also all very talented and share the same goals. I am excited to kick off another season with a new group of seniors leading the way, and a very competitive group of incoming freshmen."
The following weekend Gabarra's squad will make the program's eighth trip to the Golden State, where they will meet up with Stanford (Aug. 29) and UC Davis (Aug. 31). The date with the Cardinal marks the second time the squads will have faced each other in school history as Stanford claimed a 2-1 victory in Annapolis in 2005. The Cardinal return 18 letterwinners, including its leading scorer, from a 2007 squad that posted a 15-3-5 mark and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.
The Mids return home where they will host to a pair of first-time opponents at the Navy Soccer Invitational during the weekend of Sept. 5-7. Navy, Central Connecticut State, Delaware and Winthrop will be featured in the two-day, four-game tournament. Navy kicks off tournament play Friday against Winthrop (Sept. 5) and closes out the weekend action on Sunday against Central Connecticut (Sept. 7).
After facing Liberty (Sept. 12) and VMI (Sept. 14) on a weekend road-swing through Virginia, Navy returns to Annapolis for the first of a program-record 10-consecutive home dates beginning September 19 against in-state rival Mount St. Mary's. The month-long stretch includes visits from VCU (Sept. 21), Division I upstart Francis Marion (Sept. 26), and the NEC's Saint Francis (Pa.) (Sept. 28) before the Mids open up league play against Bucknell (Oct. 4) in a rematch of last year's Patriot League Championship. The Mids and the Bison split the season series in 2007 with Bucknell winning the league opener for both squads in Lewisburg, 1-0. With the stakes at their highest, however, Navy returned to the site of its only league loss and turned the tables on the regular season champions with a 1-0 victory to claim its second straight NCAA berth.
Navy will entertains first-time opponent Delaware State (Oct. 6) prior to a critical three-game league stretch on which they will host Lafayette (Oct. 10), Lehigh (Oct. 12), and American (Oct. 17). The Mids posted a 2-0-2 record against this trio of league opponents in `07, topping Lafayette by a 3-0 margin and earning draws with both Lehigh (0-0) and American (2-2) in regular season play. Navy later ousted the Eagles in a 2-0 decision in the Patriot League semifinals. American returns six conference all-stars from last year's squad that posted a 10-5-3 mark.
The longest home stand in program history comes to a close as the Mids wrap up their 13-game non-conference slate when regional rival UMBC visits Annapolis for a Senior Day affair on October 19.
Navy closes out the regular season with a string of difficult road tests beginning with the annual Star Game against archrival Army (Oct. 24) and followed by contests with Holy Cross (Oct. 26) and perennial league contender Colgate (Nov. 1). More than 1,000 Midshipmen flooded the gates to help cheer on the Navy women to a memorable 2-0 victory over Army in `07. The Mids enter 2008 owning a 9-2-1 record in the last 11 matches against the Black Knights. Navy's recent success against league foe Colgate has been equally as impressive. The Mids have amassed a 7-3-1 mark in its last 11 meetings against the Raiders, including last season's 1-0 win that clinched the Navy's Patriot League Tournament berth and shut out a 10-win Raiders squad from qualifying for postseason play.
The top four teams at the end of the regular season will compete for the league championship to be held at the regular season champion and No. 1 seed's home field the weekend of November 7-9. The winner of the tournament receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Navy soccer season tickets are available for just $60 for adults and $30 for youths (17 & younger). Season tickets include all 20 regular-season men's and women's home games at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The men's team will play a seven-game slate at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Tickets may be purchased online by clicking on the ticketing section of www.navysports.com or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY. In addition, fans may mail in a printable season-ticket form also found on www.navysports.com.
