Former Roberson soccer standout Anabell Motley signed with Navy in 2015.
Former Roberson soccer standout Anabell Motley scored the winning goal in Friday’s Army-Navy game.
Motley, who is a sophomore forward for the Midshipmen (3-6-0, 1-0-0), found the back of the net in the ninth minute of a 1-0 victory in Annapolis, Md.
Friday’s goal was the first of the season for the 2015 Rams graduate.
“I honestly can’t stop smiling,” Motley said afterwards. “That goal helped pick up our energy and we were able to maintain that momentum throughout the remainder of the match.”
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy women’s soccer sophomore Anabell Motley (Asheville, N.C) provided the game-winning goal in the ninth minute as Navy defeated Army West Point, 1-0, on Friday in the annual Star match at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. Following the win, the Mids moved to 1-0 in Patriot League play, while the Black Knights fell to 0-1.
“I honestly can’t stop smiling,” said Motley about her game-winning goal. “That goal helped pick up our energy and we were able to maintain that momentum throughout the remainder of the match.”
Navy (3-6-1, 1-0 Patriot League) earned their 12th Star match victory in front of the fifth-largest Glenn Warner Soccer Facility crowd at 2,347. Navy improved to 14-11-3 all-time versus archrival Army.
“You could see the passion, the energy and the emotion from the start,” Head coach Carin Gabarra said. “I love the rivalry between these two teams because everyone fights so hard and leaves everything out on the field.”
The Mids outshot the Black Knights, 10-9, while the Black Knights held a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks. Senior goalkeeper Dayton Wetherby (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) earned her first shutout of 2016, tallying five saves in the win.
Despite Army (1-7, 0-1 Patriot League) generating heavy offensive pressure in the midfield for the first eight minutes, Navy cracked open the scoring in the ninth minute.
Wetherby sent a booming kick from the 18-yard box inside Army’s defensive third for Motley, who settled the kick and passed back to teammate Clare MacAdam (Palmyra, N.J.). MacAdam dribbled down the middle and returned the ball to a streaking Motley, who took two touches to the top of the box and ripped a hard shot that snuck over the reach of Army’s Jordan Cassalia to break the scoreless tie.
“Clare [MacAdam] normally takes that shot from where I passed it to her and I would’ve expected her to connect with a good shot,” Motley said. “Clare is an incredible forward to work with and very versatile, which made the play easy to read for the both of us and connect the way we did.”
Down 1-0, Army looked for the equalizer in the 20th minute. Samantha Sullenger received a pass a top the 18-yard box and slid a pass across the box to Clare Shea, who settled the pass with her right, switched to her left and lofted a shot that looked like the equalizer, but Wetherby used all five-foot-seven to bat the ball over the net.
The Mids defense stood strong for the final 70 minutes, allowing just three shots, one of which was on net.
Navy will look ahead to its penultimate nonconference match on Sunday against Mount St. Mary’s at 1 p.m. in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The match can be seen live and for free on NECFrontRow.com and navysports.com.