ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND — Navy's women's soccer team is in the Patriot League championship game after goalkeeper Natasha Stramrood stopped three straight Loyola penalty kicks Wednesday afternoon, according to the Naval Academy's athletics site.
The top-seeded Mids and sixth-seeded Loyola were tied 1-1 after 110 minutes, including two overtime periods, in the tournament semifinal at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Navy won the shootout 3-2. The match goes into the record book as a 1-1 tie.
Freshman Sophia Ryan gave Navy a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute, scoring with her left foot after a deflected shot bounced around the box. Kaleigh Darby tied it for the Greyhounds in the 52nd minute, six minutes into the second half.
Ryan nearly won it in the 96th minute, but her shot was pushed onto the crossbar. In the final seconds of the second overtime, Stramrood punched away one Loyola header off a corner kick and caught the next.
Loyola made its first two penalty kicks. Sona Gonzales, who had not played during the game, scored Navy's first. Stramrood then made her first save, and Helen Bonner tied the shootout 2-2. After a second Stramrood save, freshman Sofia Grundy of Bethesda put Navy ahead, and Stramrood ended it with a diving stop of Brigid McElderry.
Navy outshot Loyola 18-9, while the Greyhounds had a 6-5 edge in shots on goal. Navy is 14-4-3, and Loyola is 4-4-11.
"Our team is excited to host and to be back out here on Sunday with the chance to play for a championship in front of our home fans," Navy coach Carin Gabarra said.
The Mids host fourth-seeded Boston University in the final Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. BU beat second-seeded Army on Wednesday night.
Source: Navy Athletics
Drawn from public records; drafted with AI and edited by Peter Gorman before publication.
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