Navy women's soccer sunk by South Carolina State in season opener

The Navy women\'s soccer team (0-1-0) lost to South Carolina State (1-0-0), 2-1, at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium on Friday night. It was the season opener for both teams.

After over 85 minutes of scoreless play, the game ended with a frantic pace, as all three goals came in the final 4:03 minutes of play.

"I think they wanted it more than us," head coach Carin Gabarra said. "They were more physical than us and we didn\'t match their physical intensity."

South Carolina State finally broke the scoreless battle when Alejandra Chirino scored from 25 yards out at 85:57.

Senior forward Christine Calderon responded very quickly for Navy by scoring less than a minute later at 86:54. Calderon received the ball just outside the box from a free kick and found the back of the net. It was Calderon\'s 10th career goal.

South Carolina State\'s Briana Lopez then netted the game-winner only 11 seconds later at 87:05.

Navy had a good opportunity to get on the board with 18 minutes remaining in the game, as freshman Ashlynn Soellner had a solid look at goal after receiving the ball from a corner kick, but the ball sailed over the net.

In addition to Soellner, a number of other freshmen contributed in their career debut for Navy. Forward Hannah Morse fired three shots on goal after coming off the bench and defender Emily Wilkin earned the starting nod and was impressive. Freshman Alexes Lopez-Shaw earned the start in goal.

Navy will remain in South Carolina to play Presbyterian College on Sunday at 1 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available at NavySports.com(.)