This post was written by Hatchet reporter Scott Nover.
While the rains poured down on the Mount Vernon Campus field, the Colonials were dealt their second straight loss, outscored 3-0 by Navy. The loss brings GW’s record to 3-4, plunging them below the .500 mark for the first time since August.
The Colonials’ offense was silent for the whole game, as Navy (2-3-2) dominated from the start, controlling the ball well throughout the first half and stifling any Colonial attack. Through the light drizzles of the first half, Navy outshot GW 12-3.
GW struggled for ball possession early on, and the Midshipmen easily capitalized on the situation. A ball from 20 yards out was easily transferred from the foot of Navy striker Jamie Dubyoski to the upper left corner of the net, brushing off the hand of GW goalkeeper Juan-Pierre van der Merwe in the process.
Navy maintained its 1-0 lead in a second half that head coach Craig Jones described as “getting outplayed in every area of the field.” Though ball possession did improve for the Colonials, the scorecard did not.
The 67th minute saw a Navy free kick that went off the head of Midshipmen defender Joseph Greenspan and into the net for a 2-0 lead.
The third goal for Navy came as forward Alex Evans launched a hard ball up off van der Merwe’s gloves, over the Colonial defender behind him and in goal for the final point of the match. Two more drives by the Navy offense narrowly missed ending in goals of their own, each deflecting off the right post and into safety for GW.
Reflecting after the game, Jones could do nothing but shake his head.
“When you don’t play to your potential, you know, you’re never gonna get results,” Jones said. “When you don’t show up you get punished.”
Co-captain Tyler Ranalli brushed off the question of whether the harsh rains negatively affected play.
“We just didn’t compete hard enough,” Ranalli noted.
Ranalli has, in the previous two games, been the highlight of the Colonial offense. The co-captain scored three goals with an assist in GW’s 4-0 victory last Saturday against VMI and scored once in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to St. Peter’s College. Today, however, Ranalli walked away with one shot over 45 minutes of play and many disappointed words.
“We couldn’t seem to find the passes,” Ranalli said. “It was just one of those games.”
The Colonials will get a chance to bring their record back up to .500 next Saturday as they travel north to Baltimore to face off against UMBC.
Jones stressed that the team would focus on changing the defensive side of the ball next time.
“It would be helpful if we stopped conceding goals – stopped giving goals away,” Jones said.
