EASTON, Mass. – Both goals were scored in the last 15 minutes of the game, Wyatt Stevens and the Navy men’s soccer team (0-1-1) fought back to earn a 1-1 tie with Stonehill (0-1-1) in a non-league game at WB Mason Stadium in Easton, Massachusetts, on Sunday afternoon.

Stevens’ goal in the 83rd minute underlined the performance of a team that included the long-time goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook They made five saves as the Midshipmen fought back after the Skyhawks’ Owen Burke scored in the 76th minute, in a game in which the teams combined for 19 shots in the final 45 minutes.

Although the pitch conditions forced the game to be moved from the Skyhawks’ grass soccer field to the football field, the Mids came with offensive pressure from the start when a pass into the middle found the senior Noah Ward just inside the goal crease at 2′, but Kyle Tencza stopped Ward’s redirection while a series of Navy corner kicks kept the Skyhawks at bay. Stonehill finally put the Mids defenders under pressure in the 18th minute when Colin Milliken fired a low shot from 18 yards that narrowly missed the left post as the teams settled into a back-and-forth affair that saw both sides have few scoring chances for the rest of the half.

Stonehill copied Navy’s approach in the second half with a wave of attacks that saw Holbrook save a Nate Monteiro free kick in the 48th minute before diving to block an Ethan Sullivan overhead kick in the 51st minute. Holbrook made another save on Burke in the 56th minute, and Navy countered in the 60th minute when a Ward cross found Junior. AJ Schütz who headed the ball just wide of the goal, while Holbrook stopped Sullivan again at the other end a minute later.

Schuetz continued to create chances for the Mids with two shots that were blocked, while Stonehill’s Tiago Lima-Bittencourt’s shot hit the outside of the net in the 66th minute and the junior Jalen Grant A corner kick chance in the 70th minute was blocked by a Stonehill defender to keep the game scoreless. The Skyhawks finally capitalized on their run of chances in the 76th minute when Burke converted a Milliken corner kick after the ball flew through the box and found Burke at the far post for the first goal of the afternoon.

A frantic push by Navy followed, despite Schütz being injured, and the Mids equalized the game in the 83rd minute when Grant Keane Brown Throw-in again in the air and Stevens headed it into the goal to equalize. Junior Andrew Schug made a quick attempt to put Navy ahead two minutes later but his effort went too high, while Holbrook made his final save of the day in the 89th minute when he just managed to get a hold of Shane Fonseca’s shot and send it wide to secure the tie.

Holbrook finished the game with five saves, Tencza saved just one, while four different players made the most shots of the game with three.

trainer Tim O’Donohue Comments

“It’s been a back and forth and we’re continuing to grow with a young group. We were solid defensively and had some good chances early on. It’s not been an easy journey here, plus the change of venue, we had to play on grass in the last minute and were 1-0 down but we fought back and got a point away from home. We’re excited to be back next weekend for two home games. We’re continuing to develop and I’m optimistic that we’ll continue to develop and create more chances in the next few weeks as we settle in.”

Game Notes

• Navy and Stonehill are now 0-0-1 in the standings.
• Holbrook has made multiple saves in 11 consecutive games since October 3, 2023.
• Before Stevens’ goal on Sunday, Phillip Gustafson was the last Navy freshman to score the Mids’ first goal of the season on Aug. 31, 2017, against Campbell.

Next

Navy returns to the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility for two games, hosting FDU on August 30 and Niagara on September 2. Both games begin at 7 p.m.