CHESTER, Pa. – Jacob Williams netted the first hat trick for the Midshipmen since 2012 and Tyler Fahning tallied his seventh shutout of the season to lead the Navy men's soccer team (9-1-1, 4-1-0 Patriot League) to a 3-0 victory over Army (6-4-1, 3-2-0 Patriot League) in Army-Navy Cup X played at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa. Saturday.
With the Star victory, Navy improves to 3-1 in the overall Star Series presented by USAA. Additionally, with its victory over the Black Knights, Navy moved into sole possession of first place in the Patriot League standings with 12 points on four league wins.
The hat trick by Williams also marked the first three-score effort by a Midshipmen against Army since Michael Paisant accomplished the feat during the 1999 season. Sidney Paris rounded out the top performers on offense for Navy, tallying three shots.
"I think our team played a complete game tonight," said head coach Tim O'Donohue. "I'm happy for our guys, especially our seniors, winning the N-Star. Today is a great day for our program.
"I was happy to see Jacob Williams break out tonight, I've felt this season like he had more goals in him and he came through for us in a big way."
Navy opened the scoring just over 13 minutes into the contest when Williams broke away from the Black Knight defense, sending a shot into the lower right-hand corner of the net to give the Midshipmen a one-score advantage.
Williams added to his scoring ledger at the 15:28 mark when the senior once again broke through the Army backline, netting his second score of the match to extend the Navy advantage to 2-0 on a lined shot from just outside the box.
With a two-score lead in hand the Midshipmen defense settled in against the Black Knight attack, turning away seven shot attempts, three being on goal, to maintain their two-score lead heading into halftime.
The Navy defense continued to stifle any comeback attempt by the Black Knights in the second half, rejecting another seven shots to hold the 2-0 advantage heading into the final minutes of the contest.
With their lead never in doubt, the Midshipmen secured a 3-0 Star Match victory when Williams netted his third goal of the night in the 82nd minute, marking the 53rd hat trick in program history and fourth against Army.
Fahning turned in his second-consecutive clean sheet, seventh this season, tallying two saves in 90 clean minutes in the winning effort.
Andrew Guerra paced the Black Knight attack with six shots, one being on goal, while the duo of John Poncy and Cooper Warren tallied two shots apiece. Goalkeeper Jacob Suppiah allowed three scores while recording one save in the loss.
