Three straight shutouts last week helped propel Army women’s soccer team upward in the regional rankings in two major polls. The Black Knights enter this week ranked No. 7 in the Northeast Region by Soccer Buzz magazine and tied for that spot with Boston University by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas.

Both major sources ranked the Black Knights No. 10 in their first two polls of the season. Army and Navy are the only two Patriot League schools ranked regionally.

The Black Knights, currently riding a five-game win streak, have outscored their opponents 23-1 during that span to stand 6-1-1 on the season. Last week Army shut out all three opponents, scoring 17 goals in the process. After opening with an 8-0 romp over Manhattan in the Oct. 18 home debut, the Black Knights posted a pair of weekend wins over Howard (7-0) and host Stony Brook (2-0) to win the Holiday Inn Express Invitational.

Army, which has given up just four goals all season and just one in its last five outings, has gone undefeated since freshman Morgan Bennett started in goal against Air Force (2-0) at the Military Academies Classic Sept. 8.

Five of the Black Knights’ six wins have been shutouts and Bennett, who owns a 5-1 mark, has been involved in four of those blankings. The Boca Raton, Fla., native has two solo efforts (Air Force and Stony Brook) while sharing last week’s wins over Manhattan and Howard. Bennett’s 0.40 goals-against average ranks second among the Patriot League leaders.

While Army’s defense has been stingy in holding its opponents to 0.49 goals per game, the offense has been much more explosive than in recent years. The Black Knights have scored 26 goals, just five short of last year’s season output of 31. The freshmen have been a big reason for the increased productivity. Freshmen Delaney Brown, Jen Pascucci and Leigh Kosco rank among the team’s top three scoring leaders.

Brown scored four goals last week to earn the nod as the Patriot League’s "Rookie of the Week" along with assuming the top spot on Army’s scoring list with 12 points (5 goals, 2 assists). Pascucci, scoring three times in the second half against Manhattan for her first career hat trick, is tied with Brown for the team lead in goals (5). She and classmate Leigh Kosco share second place in scoring with 10 points. Kosco, who scored a pair of goals and recorded an assist last week, has four goals and two assists in her first year. Overall, the freshmen have scored 18 of Army’s 26 goals this season.

Army head coach Gene Ventriglia is pleased with the respect his squad has been receiving of late, but takes the team’s success in stride. "We are playing well and had a big week with three shutouts along with winning a tournament title, while other teams in the region lost. I feel we deserve to be where we are, and it is nice to be recognized."

Army has a stern test this week as it opens Patriot League play. The Black Knights, in the midst of their second five-game road stretch, visited Holy Cross Wednesday in the league debut for both. Army then journeys to Lehigh for a 7 p.m. game Saturday. The Black Knights were selected fourth in the preseason poll, while Holy Cross and Lehigh were slated seventh and eighth, respectively. The Black Knights edged the Crusaders 1-0 last year, but fell by that same score on an own goal to the Mountain Hawks.

"League competition takes on a whole different meaning," explains Ventriglia. "You can’t compare what teams have done against other schools. The margin of error is very small because the teams are very competitive.

"Our freshmen are proving themselves and we are finishing our chances, which is something we have not done in a while. We have continued to play well defensively. Both areas are key to our goal of earning one of the four berths to the Patriot League tournament, which we just missed the past two years."