Navy men’s soccer picked up its first win of the John Hackworth era Monday, blanking Presbyterian 3-0 behind two second-half goals and a first-half penalty-kick conversion at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
It’s a milestone that came after a difficult opening stretch. Hackworth, hired in December as just the seventh head coach in the 105-year history of the Navy program, brings more than 30 years of experience across U.S. Soccer’s national teams, MLS, and college soccer, including stints as head coach of the USMNT U17 team, MLS’s Philadelphia Union, USL’s Louisville City FC, and the University of South Florida, plus four years as director of coaching for MLS side St. Louis City SC, where he was named 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Coach of the Year. His Navy debut, however, was rough: the Midshipmen opened the season with a 7-0 loss at UC San Diego. Monday’s win came in just his fourth game in charge.
Rookie Will Smith opened the scoring in the 44th minute, drawing a foul in the box before stepping up to take his own penalty kick and beating Presbyterian goalkeeper Saed Anabtawi to the low-right corner for his first collegiate goal. Navy controlled much of the first half without finding the net earlier — Bready Strothkamp, Will Cawlfield, and Nate Stewart all had shots saved by Anabtawi, while Presbyterian’s Mo Alahmad and Jack Illig each came close in the half’s final minutes.
Navy pulled away after the break. Alex Galloway headed home a Nick Gallucci corner in the 64th minute for his second career goal, and Strothkamp set up Cawlfield in the 82nd minute, whose cross found Cohen Nance for a diving header that made it 3-0 — also Nance’s second career goal and Strothkamp’s first point as a Midshipman. Goalkeeper Sam Clark preserved the clean sheet with two saves, including a stop on Hayate Furumoto in the 88th minute, for his first collegiate shutout.
“Happy for the boys, we’ve put in a lot of hard work and learned some hard lessons along the way so far,” Hackworth said. “To play the way we did today and to get the result was important. It’s the first of hopefully many more to come.” He singled out reserve Stephen Nelson, who entered with four minutes left in the first half and helped set up the penalty that put Navy ahead. “It’s an example of a guy being asked to play a role in a certain moment and doing it really well,” Hackworth said.
Navy also got its first collegiate start from Ryan Skandalis, who played 86 minutes, and moved to 1-0 all-time against Presbyterian. The Midshipmen (1-2-1) close their homestand Sept. 5 against Temple, with first pitch set for 8:05 p.m.
