EDWARDS SCORES FIVE AS NAVY-AC DROPS PRINCETON 12-5 TO REACH GIRLS' NATIONAL STATE CHALLENGE TITLE GAME

CORONADO, Calif. – Mackenzie Edwards scored five goals to power Navy-AC to a 12-5 victory over Princeton to reach the title game of the girls' 18-and-under bracket at the 2010 National State Challenge at Coronado High School's Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Complex.

Navy will take on the victor of the other semifinal game between Greater Philadelphia and Carlsbad on Sunday, July 25 at 4:00 p.m. for a $1,000 prize and bragging rights as the National State Challenge champion.

The Blue & Gold never trailed in the contest as Leigh Auth opened the scoring at 4:25 of the first period. She added her second goal of the contest at 4:27 of the second period to stake Navy to a 2-0 lead. Princeton's Sophia Monaghan trimmed the lead to one at 4:04 before Edwards netted her first of the game with 1:49 left in the half for a 3-1 lead.

Edwards' goal started a barrage by Navy as Auth cashed in a five-meter penalty shot at 1:36, Francis del Valle split the Tigers' man-up defense with 43 seconds on the clock and Edwards flipped in a shot at the 26 seconds mark for a 6-1 lead. Princeton shaved the lead down to four by the horn as Monaghan contributed her second strike of the day with 22 seconds glowing on the game-clock for a 6-2 Navy lead at the break.

Monaghan completed a hat-trick with 4:41 left in the third period to make it 6-3, but Navy received goals from Denise Hager (4:29), del Valle (2:40) and Edwards (2:08) for a 9-3 advantage.

Leading 9-4 after a tally by the Tigers' Jannah Bahgat with 22 seconds left in the third period, Navy received another goal from Edwards with 4:22 left in the fourth period to make it 10-4 and end any hopes of a comeback.

Following a goal by Domenicia Olivier (2:20) to make it 10-5, the Blue & Gold finished out the contest with Hager (1:52) tacking on an even-strength scoring shot and Edwards (1:12) converting on a man-up opportunity for the 12-5 final score.

Princeton will wrap-up its weekend at 2:00 p.m. in the tournament's third place game on Sunday.