Army West Point continues dominance in Army-Navy Cup with 2-0 win

Two second half goals and a big penalty kick stop secured Army West Point’s fourth Army-Navy Cup win on Sunday afternoon at Subaru Park.

Going into the second scoreless, John Poncy connected off a pass from Oscar Pereira to put the Black Knights in front. Pereira doubled the lead with a strike from distance in the 59th minute but even with the 2-0 lead the Army defense had to do a lot of work to secure the victory.

Goalkeeper Josh Taylor stopped a penalty kick in the 74th minute when he was able to make a kick save on David Jackson’s attempt. The penalty came on a counter attack when Nicko West was taken down in the box by Jack Eaton.

Taylor did well on a couple more interventions on set pieces late and finished the day with six saves in a hard fought clean sheet, the first in the Army-Navy Cup since a scoreless draw in 2017.

Army’s win was the fourth in the cup, which started in 2012. Navy last won it in 2014 after a draw the first year and a Navy win in 2013.

Attendance for the game was listed at 2,483.

Several players with local ties featured in the game, including Christian Takaki (Harrisburg, Pa. / PA Classics) and Carter Kowalewski (York, Pa. / PA Classics) for Army and JD Wagner (Medford Lakes, N.J. / Philadelphia Union Academy), Baba Kallie (Coatesville, Pa. / FC Delco, Philadelphia Union Academy) and Jason Aoyama (Narberth, Pa. / FC Delco, Philadelphia Union Academy) for the Midshipmen.

The service academies will be back at Subaru Park this fall to continue their rivalry in the 10th Army-Navy Cup.