Maryland women’s soccer vs. Navy preview

After a strong 2-1 victory over Drexel, Maryland women's soccer looks for its second win of the season vs. Navy. Last year, Navy won this matchup 5-3 in Annapolis, but Maryland’s team will look a lot different 12 months later.

Maryland and Navy will face off in College Park on Sunday, scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

Navy Midshipmen (0-1)

Head coach Carin Gabarra. When Navy brought in women’s soccer to its athletic department in 1993, Gabarra took over to build the program from scratch. In her 23 years as head coach, she’s won three Patriot League Coach of the Year awards, and between 1994 and 2015, Navy recorded 21 straight winning seasons.

Players to Know

Clare MacAdam, senior, forward, No. 5. MacAdam was Navy’s leading point-scorer in both 2015, with 28, and 2016, with 18. Last season against Maryland, she scored two goals and four points, both career highs.

Rachel Feldman, senior, midfield, No. 19. While she only started four games, Feldman played a huge role for Navy last year, appearing in all 22 games. She scored a team-leading seven goals to go along with 16 points, which came in second. However, she didn’t play in Navy’s opener vs. Tennessee.

Strength

Offense. While Navy’s offense wasn’t strong compared to the rest of the country last season, it was the best part of its team. In 22 games, Navy scored at least three goals five times and finished with an average of 1.59 goals scored per game.

Weakness

Goaltending. Dayton Wetherby started all 20 games in goal for Navy last season, but she struggled in 2016, allowing 1.51 goals per game and only saving about 70 percent of shots she faced. However, Sydney Fotson, who only played in five games last year allowing 1.56 goals per game, played all 90 minutes in Navy’s first game. Regardless of who starts, Maryland should be able to take advantage.

Three things to watch

1. Which freshman will produce? In Maryland’s opener, two freshman provided the scoring, a welcome sight after last season saw the team lacking in depth. In addition, six total freshman saw minutes in the game, including three starters, which shows Ray Leone is ready to incorporate them immediately.
2. How will Chelsea Jackson play with this new depth? Maryland’s 2016 scoring leader didn’t register a shot against Drexel, but her presence was still visible in 60 minutes. A stronger supporting cast should allow Jackson to flourish, but it may take some time while the newcomers get more involved.
3. How will Leone handle substitutions each game? On Friday, Leone used five subs and only played Jackson 60 minutes. With a deeper roster, he may want to experiment with subs depending on the game and the substitutions until he gets a good idea of who plays well in which situations.