AU lost its two-game homestand against Patriot League foe U.S. Naval Academy 1-0 on Oct. 9 in light rain and strong wind.
AU (4-5-2, 2-1-0 PL) found itself behind early in the game after Navy (5-3-2, 2-0-0 PL) scored a goal in 10 minutes. A costly foul in the box set up a free kick that resulted in a 20 yard unassisted goal by Navy’s junior defender Joseph Greenspan. The foul was one of 11 committed by the Eagles. Over the last three games AU has racked up 32 fouls.
“There were a lot of fouls called today that weren’t fouls, both ways,” head coach Todd West said. “Unfortunately one of the non-fouls that was called decided the game.”
The Eagles attempted to even up the score throughout the first half. They had many opportunities earning three corner kicks, but could not connect with the back of the net. AU was able to go deep into Navy territory and often got inside the box, but were promptly cut off by the Navy defense. Two of the three shots taken in the first half were on goal.
In the second half, AU came out aggressive. In the 56:57 junior defender Conor Osborne was issued a yellow card and three minutes later was issued another yellow card, turning it into a red card.
“It is not possible for the same player in the same game to be charged with two yellow cards. Albeit the multiple offense may be cautionable offenses, the second card to the same player in the same game shall be red,” NCAA rules states.
Also under NCAA rules any player issued a red card “is unable to participate in the next regularly schedule game.”
“It’s a frustration that [we] will be without a left-back [Osborne] in a pretty key game against Bucknell,” West said. “We’ll have to juggle the line up but it is what it is and we’ll go back to work and see what we can fix.”
Osborne has started 9 of the 11 games this season, and has one goal and one assist this season.
The rest of the second half was filled with more yellow cards. On AU’s side, senior defender Cristobal Soto received a yellow card at 62:44 and senior midfielder Patrick Mehlert received a yellow card at 83:33 for obscene language. Mehlert was frustrated at Navy’s attempt to drain the clock during a free kick and yelled at the official “to stop the f**king clock.” Navy was also issued two yellow cards to two separate players.
Navy continued to stop AU’s runs in the box and also continued to apply pressure on senior goalkeeper Billy Knutsen. He collected four saves in the second half and had five saves overall. The goal scored by Navy is only the second allowed by Knutsen in the last four games.
The Eagles continue Patriot League play on Oct. 12 vs. Bucknell at Reeves Field.
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