NORFOLK, VA - Chris Harmon and Jordan LeBlanc each scored five
points (2 g, 1 a) and No. 13-ranked Old Dominion scored twice in the
game's last 12 minutes to hand the Navy men's soccer team a 4-0 setback
in the season opener for both teams on Saturday night.
Navy falls to 0-1-0 on the young season, while the Monarchs improve to 1-0-0 on the year.
The
two teams played fairly even soccer for the first 35 minutes, but Old
Dominion got on the board first in the 36th minute when Harmon corralled
a loose ball in traffic in the middle of the box and slid a shot inside
the right post for a 1-0 ODU lead.
Navy had its best chance right before halftime when
Blake Busse (Jr. / San Diego, Calif.) found space in the left slot, but
his shot to the far post was stopped by a sprawling ODU keeper to keep
Navy off the board heading into halftime.
Navy also had several good chances in the first 10
minutes of the second half, but were turned away or sent shots just off
the mark.
The Monarchs then upped their lead
on a counter-attack as Gideon Asante drew a foul in the box in the 55th
minute, resulting in a penalty kick. LeBlanc slid a shot inside the left
post past Navy keeper Gavin Snyder (Jr. / Severna Park, Md.) for a 2-0
advantage.
The Monarchs then resorted to their defense, packing
it in on their end and taking advantage of their offensive chances to
tack on two more goals in the 78th and 83rd minutes for the 4-0 final
margin.
"There were a lot of good points to take away form the game.
It was 1-0 and 2-0 for a long time and we generated a number of chances
in the first half and early in the second half," said Navy head coach
Dave Brandt. "We made a bad mistake in the box and that goal deflated us
a bit. It was really disappointing to give up two goals late and make
the score-line as unflattering as it was, but I think there are some
positives to take away from this game against a very good team in their
home opener."
ODU outshot Navy, 19-10, but Navy drew seven corner
kicks to the Monarchs' six. The Midshipmen were whistled for 10 fouls to
ODU's seven. Snyder made three saves in goal for Navy, while Joseph
Greenspan (So. / Westfield, N.J.) led the Midshipmen with four shots.
Navy will be back in action on Thursday
when it hosts Robert Morris in its home opener at 7:00 PM at the Glenn
Warner Soccer Facility. The Midshipmen will close out next weekend by
taking on VCU, also in Annapolis, on Saturday at 7:00 PM.
