Navy women’s soccer opened a five-game road trip in dominant fashion Thursday, routing Radford 5-0 at Cupp Memorial Stadium — a result that came just a week after the program, led by a Hall of Fame head coach, notched its 400th win in history.
The game’s tone shifted early: Radford’s Caitlyn Nottingham was sent off with a red card in the third minute after tackling Chiara Cosenza as the last defender on a breakaway, forcing the Highlanders into an extra-defensive posture for the rest of the match. Navy led just 1-0 at halftime despite the man advantage, but pulled away decisively after the break. Jessica Black opened the scoring in the 28th minute, intercepting a clearance deep in Radford’s end and finishing low after three dribbles — payback after a shot had clanged off the post eight minutes earlier.
Ande Swan made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute off a Cosenza assist, and Cosenza scored herself in the 58th minute, pouncing on a deflected rebound from a Kayana Adlam free kick. Faith Graziano extended the lead to 4-0 in the 71st minute after freshman Malia Harding forced a turnover and set her up inside the box, and Katia Katsari-Hoefer capped the scoring 91 seconds later off a crisp passing sequence through Harding, Sofia Ryan, and Graziano.
Navy finished with a lopsided 22-4 shot advantage, 10-0 in shots on goal, and 7-1 in corner kicks; goalkeepers Natasha Stramrood and Cadence Tordai split time and didn’t face a single shot on goal.
“Every time we win on the road, it’s a good thing because it’s not an easy thing to do in this game,” head coach Carin Gabarra said. “When Radford went down a man early, we had to change our tactics a bit. We had to find some composure. At halftime, we weren’t satisfied with only one goal lead, so we re-grouped and made some adjustments.” Gabarra pointed to Navy’s depth as a highlight beyond the score line: “We played a lot different players tonight, eight of whom got either a goal or an assist. I’m super happy with our effort… we’re happy with the amount of players who received minutes tonight.”
That depth reflects a program Gabarra has built essentially from scratch. A National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, Gabarra won the Golden Ball as MVP of the inaugural 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup — which the U.S. won — and later claimed Olympic gold with the national team in 1996. She’s been Navy’s only head coach since the program’s founding in 1993, building it from a club-level team into a perennial Patriot League contender with 10 regular-season titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances, and stands as the conference’s all-time wins leader. Just last week, Navy earned its 400th program win, a 2-1 victory over a previously unbeaten Maryland squad — a milestone made possible by the fact that Gabarra has been the only coach the program has ever had.
Navy continues its road trip Sunday with a 1 p.m. kickoff at VMI in Lexington, Virginia.
