Men's Soccer Wins Army-Navy Cup IX

CHESTER, Pa. – The Army West Point men's soccer team took home the Army-Navy Cup for the sixth-straight season after defeating rival Navy, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa.

On the victory, head coach Russell Payne said, 'We talked a lot about persistence and perseverance this week. Of course in reference to the year behind su but more so that this game would be the best moment to demonstrate those values. The goals came from a precise moment of counter pressing and from an area we wanted to attack in transition. The boys stuck to our principles and got rewarded for their togetherness."

The Black Knights outshot Navy, 7-5 in the first half and were knocking on the door with four corners to just two for the Midshipmen.

With the start of the second half, the Black Knights wasted no time, as John Poncy delivered the first goal of the day, also the first of his career and the eventual game winner just three minutes into the second half, as he took a feed from Oscar Pereira and finished off a shot to the lower right corner.

The Black Knights struck again, making it 2-0 in the 59^th minute as Pereira delivered a pretty strike to the upper-left corner from 30 yards out off a pass from Nick Atkinson.

The Midshipmen had their opportunities down the stretch, outshooting the Black Knights 7-5 in the second half and tallying six corner kick opportunities to just one for the Black Knights, but the defensive unit held strong.

Navy had no better opportunity to get on the board then in the 74^th minute when David Jackson took a penalty kick for the Midshipmen. Goalkeeper Josh Taylor came up with a huge save to preserve the shutout.

Overall, Taylor made six saves in his first career start to earn his first win and first shutout in the rivalry derby.

"A special thank you to our seniors Eric, Christian and Matty for completely emptying their tanks and giving everything for the good of the team this year," said Payne.

NOTES
- Although there were technical difficulties in the live stream of the game, watch the complete 90 here on ESPN+ - https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/252004f0-68b5-422d-8157-8cf014a14f32

Army West Point Athletics

Men's Soccer Wins Army-Navy Cup IX

Players Mentioned

Nick Atkinson

Oscar Pereira

John Poncy

Josh Taylor

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