It goes without saying Tommy Phelan will be getting the nod in goal for Navy tomorrow in the NCAA quarterfinals against fifth-seeded Johns Hopkins.

Phelan took over for Matt Coughlin in the middle of the season when Coughlin suffered a hamstring injury. Navy coach put Coughlin back in for the Patriot League semifinal loss to Colgate, then turned back to Phelan for last week's first round victory at North Carolina.

"After the loss to Colgate, I felt like if we had a chance to play again, I felt like Tommy would be the guy," Meade said. "In Matt's defense, he was off for a long time and putting him in the goal against Colgate probably wasn't fair. At the time, we were looking for a spark. Retrospectively, that was probably something I should have thought a little bit longer on."

In the first meeting with Hopkins, Phelan made seven saves and yielded 10 goals before leaving with 11:37 remaining. Hopkins goalie Michael Gvozden, meanwhile, had 16 saves and surrendered only four goals in that game.

Navy needs a lot of things to be different in Round 2 (or Round 35, if you wish to dwell on streaks) if it wants to make it to the Boston 'burbs next weekend.

One of them is at least getting the goalie play to be a push tomorrow afternoon.

--- Patrick Stevens