ANNPOLIS, Md. – The No. 17 Navy women's lacrosse team (2-1) hits the road for a midweek game against Villanova (2-1) on Wednesday, Feb. 27, in Philadelphia, Pa. Opening draw is slated for 3:00 p.m.
 
Live statistics and live video ($) will be available throughout the game.
 
National Rankings
Navy remained ranked in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) top 25 national poll, while receiving votes in the other two top 20 polls. The Midshipmen opened the 2019 season ranked in all three national preseason polls, and have been ranked nationally for 20 consecutive weeks, dating back to the final poll of 2017. The Midshipmen are currently ranked No. 17 according to the IWLCA Coaches Poll, moving up one spot from No. 18 after the second week of the season.
 
Duo Tabbed Patriot League Athletes of the Week
Junior Kayla Harris (Annapolis, Md.) and freshman Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) were named Patriot League Midfielder and Rookie of the Week, respectively, as announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon.
 
Harris helped lead Navy to a 14-13 victory over No. 19 Towson on Saturday afternoon. The junior picked up her third hat trick of the season (sixth of her career) with three goals to go along with two assists for five points on the day. She led the team with 10 draw controls, grabbing 10-of-18 of Navy's draws on the day. Harris notched six of her 10 draws in the second half. In addition, Harris grabbed a pair of ground balls.
 
Roelofs finished the game with two goals on two shots while adding four draw controls. The freshman scored on back-to-back possessions for Navy, netting her two goals within 20 seconds of each other. She took a pass from Harris and buried it in the net for her first goal of the game and 19 ticks later converted a Kelly Larkin (Alexandria, Va.) pass to give her the second multi-goal game of her short career. Roelofs took all of Navy's draws in the first half, picking up four individually and helping the Mids win 8-of-10 first half draw controls.
 
All-Time Series
The game between Navy and Villanova will mark the seventh meeting between the two programs. Navy holds a 5-1 (.833) advantage in the series.
 
The Midshipmen have won the last four meetings against the Wildcats, including a 12-point victory (W, 17-5) in the last meeting back in 2017. Four of the six games between the two teams have been decided by six goals or less, including a pair of one-point games.
 
Villanova is 2-0 (1.000) at home this season, while Navy's only loss has come on the road. However, the Midshipmen are 3-0 (1.000) against the Wildcats in Philadelphia.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy picked up its first win of the season against a ranked opponent on Saturday, defeating No. 19 Towson, 14-13, to move to 2-1 on the season. The Midshipmen improved to 2-0 at home on the year.
 
Kelly Larkin (Alexandria, Va.) picked up her first hat trick of the season with a four-goal performance on Saturday against the Tigers. She was joined by Kayla Harris (Annapolis, Md.) and Annalise Heyward (Charlotte, N.C.) with hat tricks in the game. In addition, Larkin led the team with three assists, while Harris paced the squad with 10 draw controls and Heyward notched a team-best five caused turnovers.
 
Through three games, Larkin leads the team with 15 points, scoring six goals and boasting a team-high nine assists, while Harris is second with 13 points thanks to a team-best 11 goals scored. Heyward is also in double-figure points with seven goals and three helpers for 10 total points. Harris leads the team with 20 total draws, while Heyward paces the team with nine caused turnovers. Freshman Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) is first among the Mids' freshmen class with four goals and 11 draws.
 
Defensively, goalie Gab Harchelroad has logged all 180 minutes between the pipes for the Midshipmen. In three starts this season, she is 2-1, including a victory over a ranked opponent. The senior has made 16 stops with 13 ground balls and three caused turnovers.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Villanova is currently 2-1 after a road loss to Duke (L, 19-9) and winning back-to-back home games against Cornell (W, 13-12) and Siena (W, 12-7).
 
Three games into the season, Villanova is currently led by junior Katie Comerford, senior Ashley Lynch, and senior Devin Hassinger. Comerford has a team high in both points (12) and assists (8) while also recording four goals. Lynch is tied with Comerford with four goals but sits behind her in second with nine points and five assists. Hassinger holds the top spot on the team in goals with eight.
 
Hassinger also holds a hefty lead in draw controls with 20 and during the team's contest against Siena, she moved up the leader board to third all-time in career draw controls with 125.
 
Alexa Moro has been a staple in the net for the Wildcats from the start of the season. In the team's 12-7 win over Siena, the freshman keeper recorded a career-high 16 saves on 24 shots faced for a .696 save percentage. For the season she has recorded 29 saves on a total of 76 shots faced and has only allowed 29 goals.
 
Last Time vs. Villanova (Feb. 22, 2017)
Navy cruised to a 17-5 win over Villanova at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
 
Julia Collins helped lead the Mids as she filled the stat sheet with eight points on three goals and five assists, five draw controls, five ground balls and two caused turnovers. Julia's twin-sister Jenna, also had a stat-sheet stuffing performance, recording seven points on a career-best six goals and one assist, four draw controls, three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
 
Kelly Larkin had another impressive home showing, tallying a career-best eight points on five goals and three assists. Co-captain Morgan Young recorded her 12th career hat trick.
 
In net, Ingrid Boyum bounced back from a rough game against Duke, tallying five saves on 10 chances against Villanova in the win.
 
Navy held statistical advantages over Villanova in shots, 34-16, ground balls, 26-15, draw controls, 13-11, clear attempts, 16-of-18 to 13-of-22 and turnovers, 16-25.
 
Last Time Out
The No. 18 Navy women's lacrosse team improved to 2-0 at home with a 14-13 victory over No. 19 Towson on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corp Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. The Midshipmen used hat tricks by Kelly Larkin, Kayla Harris, and Annalise Heyward to earn their first victory over a ranked opponent this season.
 
As a team, Navy tallied 14 goals with eight assists for 22 total points. The Mids were led by Larkin who scored a team-best four goals. Harris and Heyward also recorded hat tricks netting three goals apiece. Larkin led the way with three assists, while Harris chipped in a pair of helpers.
 
Defensively, Heyward caused a team-best five turnovers, which is the second most caused turnovers by a Navy player and marks the fifth time a Midshipmen has had five or more caused turnovers in a game. As a team, the Mids caused nine of the Tigers 20 turnovers.
 
Navy picked up 18 of the game's 28 draw controls. Harris grabbed a game-high 10 draw controls while Reagan Roelofs contributed four and Andie O'Sullivan snagged three. Heyward picked up six ground balls in the game, while Larkin added four GBs.
 
With Navy leading 14-13 with under two minutes to play, Towson won the final draw control of the game. The Mids' defense stiffened and caused an errant pass by the Tigers, and Larkin was able to pick up the ground ball. The Midshipmen were able to run out the final 60 seconds of the clock to secure the victory.