The 14th annual meeting of the Army-Navy Cup was ‘bigger than just soccer’ at Subaru Park

For the 14th consecutive year, Subaru Park, home of the Philadelphia Union, played home to one of the marquee matchups in sports — Army-Navy — on Friday night.

This year’s version, however, saw a major change with the addition of a women’s soccer game.

“Our men’s teams have been doing this for many years and it’s a great atmosphere and they’ve had a wonderful experience with it,” said Navy women’s soccer coach Carin Gabarra. “There’s nothing like playing in front of 2,000 to 3,000 Midshipmen at home and then there’s nothing worse than playing in front of 2,000 to 3,000 cadets on the road, but it’s an experience I want all of our players to have. This seemed the most fitting year to do this with Navy’s anniversary and the football game and then doing it with the men in conjunction with what the Philly Union have done. It’s a wonderful event and we were super excited to do it for two years and see how it was and give our players this experience.”

“Appreciate the Philly Union for us to be able to have a doubleheader. … The atmosphere was unbelievable,” Army women’s soccer coach Tracy Chao added. “[Army men’s soccer coach Brian Plotkin] talks about it all the time and he loves it and for us to be able to kind of share that feeling is pretty cool. Again, what athletes, what Division I women’s soccer players are playing in an MLS stadium or has the opportunity to do that? … We told them you got to soak it all in. The emotion should be there. It was fun. Appreciate Carl [Cherkin] and the whole Union staff to be able to help us out.”

The addition of women’s soccer only added to the ever-growing visibility of women’s sports in the city, which will be receiving a WNBA team in 2030. Any fans who couldn’t make the trip to Chester were able to tune in on ESPN+.

“It’s bigger than just soccer. These teams, it’s Army-Navy, there’s really no battle that’s more special than this moment because we’re fighting against each other but at the end of the day we’re all on the same team,” said Army sophomore midfielder Grace Pohlidal. “Hopefully it inspires younger girls who watch us. I know we’re inspired by all the WPSL players, NWSL players, they’re all amazing. They make us work harder and we aspire to be them. We just enjoy coming together and playing the sport we love. It’s amazing how much support women’s soccer is getting these days and all we can do is just try our best to keep elevating it and play for more than ourselves.”

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In front of cadets and Midshipmen who had alternating chants of “Let’s Go Army” and “Let’s Go Navy” going, the two sides battled it out for 90 minutes. As time went on, the Navy chants got louder thanks to its 2-0 lead, but Pohlidal got the cadets on their feet with a pair of second-half goals to put the first women’s Army-Navy Cup in the books with a draw.

“Getting wins on the road is hard and even in a neutral site,” Chao said. “We put ourselves in a position, where we were down and then fought back, so proud of that effort and taking a point.

Immediately after, it was time for the men to hit the pitch at Subaru Park for the 14th straight year.

“It’s a special venue,” said Navy men’s soccer coach Tim O’Donohue. “It’s obviously a great crowd. People are celebrating the Midshipmen and the cadets that are serving our country. It’s a great event.”

That crowd was on full display during the nightcap, as a record-setting 11,366 people were in attendance to watch one of the iconic rivalries in college sports, as Army had its best offensive performance since 2022 with a 4-0 win.

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“In the pregame we talked a little bit. We said, ‘How many of you when you were 5 had the dream of playing in a MLS stadium that was sounding like it was near full?’ And all the guys put up their hand,” Plotkin said. “But really the better feeling of it all was if you play in a stadium that’s nearly full and you’re the winning team.”

“[The atmosphere] was amazing,” added Army junior forward Jubril Bamgbala. “When you’re a little kid and you’re dreaming about what you want your soccer career to be like, that was it right there.”

For Army senior midfielder Jack Meyer, he’s felt that through his four years of playing in the Army-Navy Cup. Army’s senior class walked away with a 3-0-1 record at Subaru Park against Navy.

“I loved [having the crowd] out there,” Meyer said. “But it was good to have my teammates next to me making sure that I stayed focused on the game and just keep playing my game.”