ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND — Freshman Sophia Ryan scored both goals, the second in the 79th minute, and Navy beat Loyola Maryland 2-1 Wednesday night at Glenn Warner Soccer Facility to claim the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, according to Navy's game recap.
Navy (14-4-2, 7-1-1 Patriot League) came into the day a game behind Army. Holy Cross had beaten the previously undefeated Black Knights 2-1 before kickoff in Annapolis. Navy and Army finished level at 22 points, and Navy holds the tiebreaker on its win over Holy Cross.
Ryan, from Solon, Ohio, opened the scoring 6:12 in, finishing a give-and-go with Chiara Cosenza. Betzael Contreras tied it for Loyola a little over 12 minutes later, shooting off a loose ball after a free kick into the box.
The winner came at 78:07. Jessica Black crossed from the left wing to Cosenza, who drew the Loyola goalkeeper out of the crease and laid the ball off to Ryan, who sent it into the open net. Loyola did not record a shot over the final 43-plus minutes. It was Ryan's first career two-goal game, and Cosenza assisted on both goals.
Navy outshot Loyola 9-2, with a 4-2 edge on goal and 8-1 in corner kicks.
The Patriot League quarterfinals are Sunday, Nov. 8. Navy will host the lowest remaining seed Wednesday, Nov. 11, at noon at Glenn Warner, and has home field throughout the tournament.
"Being regular season champs is wonderful, but we really want to win the postseason championship," coach Carin Gabarra said.
The road to the title now runs through Annapolis.
Source: Navy Athletics
Drawn from public records; drafted with AI and edited by Peter Gorman before publication.
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