In a battle of Patriot League unbeatens, it was Navy that came out on top against American University men's soccer as the lone goal of the match went the Midshipmen's way.

Navy (5-3-2, 2-0-0) outshot American (4-5-2, 2-1-0) 12-5, but it was a blast early in the match that made the difference. After a foul deep in the AU zone, Navy made the most of a free kick, blasting it home for a 1-0 lead in the 10^th minute.

The Mids defense stood the test throughout, limiting the Eagles attempts and holding American from finding the equalizer in the closing minutes.

"It's a tough loss. We were coming off two challenging games against nationally-ranked Georgetown and at Holy Cross, but we now just need to get back to work," said head coach Todd West. "We came out a little flat. Now we need to rest and re-focus on out matchup versus Bucknell."

It was a physical, league contest as Navy totaled 14 fouls to AU's 11. There were also six cards issued in the match, two for the Midshipmen and four for American, with a red card in 59^th minute forcing the Eagles to continue a player down for the remainder of the game.

Senior goalkeeper Billy Knutsen made five saves in the contest, but it was Navy's first shot that proved to be the game-winner as the free kick blast found its way to the top left corner.

Five different Eagles registered shots in the match with freshman Kibundila Mbaluku and junior Conor Osborne firing attempts on net.

Each squad managed five corners in the game, but the defensive match continued as both the Mids and Eagles were able to negate each others set pieces from the corners.

American continues Patriot League play this weekend, hosting Bucknell on Saturday, October 12, at 1 p.m., at Reeves Field.