Feb. 26, 2016 
Midfielder
Colin Flounlacker turned in his first collegiate hat trick in last year's 14-6 Navy victory over Boston University.
Game Day Storylines • Scene Setter: #16/16 Navy opens Patriot League play on Saturday at Boston University, marking the program's 13th year as a member of the league. Action is slated for a 1:00 PM faceoff at Nickerson Field. The Mids, who enter the game 2-1, are led by fifth-year head coach
Rick Sowell, while the 3-1 Terriers are under the direction of third-year head coach Ryan Polley. Saturday's contest marks just the third meeting between the two programs with the Mids taking wins in both previous meetings.
• Follow the Action: The Navy-Boston U. game will be carried live by 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV with Joe Miller handling the call. Coverage begins with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show at 12:45 PM. The game will also be streamed online for FREE via PatriotLeague.TV, while live stats will be available at NavySports.com.
• Holding Rank: Navy opened the season ranked #18 in both the Nike/USILA Coaches and Cascade/Maverik Media Preseason Polls. The Mids pushed up to #16 in both polls a week ago and held steady in this week's poll following their 5-1 defensive battle against Delaware. Navy was ranked twice last season, its highest ranking being #15 following its 10-7 victory over #13 Army West Point in the regular-season finale.
• Patriot League Praise: Junior All-American defenseman
Chris Fennell (4GB, 1CT, held top scorer to 0 PTS) and senior goalkeeper
John Connors (6Sv, 1GA, 85.7 Sv%) were both recognized by the Patriot League this week for their efforts in Navy's win over Delaware. For Fennell, it marked the first time this season and just the second time in his career that he has been named the league's defensive player of the week, while Connors picks up the goalkeeper honor for the first time this season and fourth over his four-year career.
• Talking Openers: Navy enters the weekend looking to snap a five-game losing streak in Patriot League openers. The Mids own a 5-7 all-time record in Patriot League openers, including a 4-5 mark on the road (0-2 at home, 1-0 at neutral site). Saturday's game marks the fifth time in 13 years Navy has played its opener on the road and the third time in the last four seasons.
• Going for 775: The Mids are looking for win #775 this weekend when it faces Boston U. Navy owns a 774-340-14 mark in what is its 109th season of varsity lacrosse. Navy is the fourth-winningest program in DI men's lacrosse history and one of just five programs to amass 750 or more wins.
• Offense vs. Defense Part II: A year ago Boston U. entered its game against the Mids ranked 10th in the nation, averaging 13.13 goals per game. Navy's defense, however, played one of its best games of the year, holding the Terriers to just six goals and their top two scorers to a combined 1 goal and 1 assist. This year, the Terriers are averaging 10.00 goals per game and stand 27th nationally, while Navy is holding its opponents to 6.33 goals per game and stands eighth.
• A Tip of the Hat: Since the start of Navy's magical 2004 season, at least one Navy player has turned in a hat trick in 116 of the last 180 games (64.4). Among those 116 games, the Mids have won 82 contests (70.7). Navy put together an 8-0 record a year ago in the eight games a Mids scored three or more goals. The Mids are 1-1 this season (
Patrick Keena and
Greyson Torain vs. Air Force,
Jack Ray vs. Johns Hopkins).
Scouting the Terriers • Third-year Boston U. head coach Ryan Polley has led the Terriers to a 3-1 record, winning three in a row (Providene, 9-5; UMass Lowell, 8-5; High Point, 13-10) before dropping a 16-10 decision at home against Hartford last Saturday.
• Averaging 10.00 goals per game as a team, the Terriers' offense is led by sophomore attackman Jack Wilson who owns 12 points on 6 goals and 6 assists. Rookie attackman James Burr has punched in a team-best 10 goals, while freshman midfielder Brendan Homire is atop the list in assists with 8.
• Defensively, BU is surrendering 9.00 goals per game and has given up double-figure goals in each of the last two contests. The Terriers, however, are ranked #2 nationally in caused turnovers per game, averaging 11.0 per contest. Junior long pole Greg Wozniak leads the team with 8 takeaways, while junior defenseman Dominick Calisto has contributed 7.
• BU's man down defense is among the nation's best, giving up just 1 goal on 8 attempts (87.5).
• Returning in goal for the Terriers is junior Christian carson-Banister who owns a 52.6 save percentage and a 9.04 goals-against average.
• Once again, the Terriers field one of the best faceoff men in the country in junior Sam Talkow. The All-Patriot League draw specialist stands 11th nationally, winning 68.6 percent (48-70) of his faceoffs this season. He also leads the team with 28 ground balls and is 10th in the country, picking up 7.00 ground balls per game.
• One of the areas BU has struggled this season is ball protection. The Terriers are ranked 59th in the country, averaging 19.50 turnovers per game.
Navy vs. Boston University - The Series • Meeting for just the third time, the Midshipmen own a 2-0 lead in the series with a game played at both teams' home field.
• The two teams met in Boston, Mass. on March 29, 2014, in what was the inaugural contest between the two programs. Navy posted a 13-7 win.
• Last year Navy captured a 14-6 victory over the Terriers in what was their first trip to Annapolis.
Mids Picked to finish Second in League • After claiming a share of the program's sixth Patriot League regular-season title and first since 2008, Navy has been picked to finish second according to the 2016 Patriot League Preseason Poll. The cast of voters included the league's coaches and sports information directors.
• Loyola, who tied for third a year ago with a 5-3 mark, edged out both the league's regular-season champion - Navy - and tournament champion - Colgate - as this year's preseason favorite.
• The Greyhounds secured 12 of the 18 first-place votes (eligible for only 16 due to not being able to vote for your own team) and totaled 122 points to stand atop the preseason vote. Although Navy accounted for five of the remaining six first-place votes, the Midshipmen held just a three-point advantage (108-105) over Colgate for second in the poll. Army West Point was picked fourth with 85 points, followed by Bucknell (70), Boston U. (58), Lehigh (54), Holy Cross (29) and Lafayette (17).
• The Mids have won at least a share of the regular-season Patriot League title in six of the 12 seasons (2004-05-06-07-08-15) they have been a member of the conference, while compiling an 11-4 record in the Patriot League Tournament to earn five Patriot League Tournament titles (2004-05-06-07-09). Navy has amassed a 51-26 (.662) regular-season record in the Patriot League since 2004 in joining what is now a nine-member lacrosse conference (Hobart left following the `04 campaign; Loyola and Boston U. joined in 2014), and includes two undefeated seasons (2004, `07).
• In addition to the preseason poll, the 2016 Preseason All-Patriot League Team was also unveiled. Headlining the 12-member team were reigning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, Navy junior
Chris Fennell (Milford, N.J.), who was selected as the 2016 Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, and Loyola senior attackman Zach Herreweyers who was chosen as the preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
• Eight of the nine teams placed players on the preseason team, including Army West Point, Boston U., Colgate and Loyola with two selections apiece. Bucknell, Holy Cross, Navy and Lehigh each had one player chosen for the preseason squad.
• In addition to the Navy-Boston U. contest, the other Patriot League openers slated for Saturday include Bucknell at Colgate (12:00 PM), Holy Cross at Lehigh (12:00 PM) and Lafayette at Loyola (1:00 PM). Army West Point, meanwhile, will play at Syracuse on Sunday (12:00 PM).
Navy vs. The Patriot League • Navy owns a 138-61-3 all-time record against members of the nine-team Patriot League, including a 2-0 mark against Boston University.
• The Mids have winning records against every team in the Patriot League except Bucknell (7-8) and Loyola (3-5), both of which Navy has lost five straight against.
Save the Date • Navy will hold its annual Meet the Mids event following its game against Loyola on Saturday, March 19 at 1:00 pm.
• Members of the Navy men's lacrosse team will be available for autographs on the Blue Concourse, with the first 300 kids in line for the postgame autograph session receiving a Navy lacrosse "Meet the Mids" t-shirt, compliments of Annapolis area Papa John's and Chick-fil-A.
• Don't miss the Sale of the Century VI on April 22 held in conjunction with Navy's lacrosse game vs. Sacred Heart. Items on sale include shoes, helmets, game jerseys, t-shirts, and a wide variety of other Navy team gear and Under Armour apparel. The sale will be open to the public on Friday from 3:00-10:00 PM (Game ticket required after 5:30 PM on Friday). Cash and credit cards will be accepted.
