Game Day Storylines
• Inside the Game: Following its 19-3 victory over Furman on Saturday, Navy (2-0, 0-0 Patriot League) will make its first road trip of the season, traveling to Richmond to battle the 18th-ranked Spiders (1-1, 0-0 SoCon) on Tuesday afternoon. Faceoff is slated for 4:00 pm at Robins Stadium.
• Follow the Action: The Navy-Richmond game will be streamed online via ESPN+ ($ subscription based), while live stats will be available at NavySports.com. The game will NOT be carried on the radio.
• Amplo Era Begins: Joe Amplo, one of eight new DI head coaches at their respective schools this season, earned his first victory representing the Blue & Gold when he led the Mids to a 9-4 victory over Manhattan in their opener on Feb. 7. Amplo was introduced as the program's ninth head men's lacrosse coach on June 5, 2019. This spring marks Amplo's eighth season as a DI head coach after previously building the Marquette program from the ground up and posting a 52-53 record.
• Defense Wins Games: The Mids' defense has been en fuego in the first two games, holding Manhattan to 27 shots and 4 goals in the opener and following by keeping Furman off the board for nearly 52 minutes (51:44). The Paladins got off just 16 shots in the contest, including 7 on cage. Navy has won 60 of its last 61 when holding its opponent to five or fewer goals dating back to 2003. The last time Navy held an opponent to 5 goals and lost was on 3.26.11 when Colgate defeated Navy, 5-4, in Annapolis. Â
• At the Top of Their Game: Navy heads into the Richmond game ranked #1 in the country in faceoff winning percentage (76.7), man-down defense (1.000 // 1 of 6 teams) and winning percentage (1.000 // 1 of 21 teams). Navy is #2 in scoring defense (3.50), #6 in scoring margin (10.50) and #7 in ground balls per game (40.00). Sophomore
Nick Barry is #1 in faceoff winning percentage (17-21, 81.0), while
Ryan Kern is #1 in goals-against average (4GA, 90 min // 2.67 GAA) and #2 in save percentage (16Svs, 4GA // 80.0).
• Goals Galore: Navy scored 19 consecutive goals in its 19-3 victory over Furman last Saturday. It is the first time the Mids have rolled off 19 straight goals in a single game since shutting out the University of Baltimore (1949-83), 19-0, on May 16, 1970.
• Goals Galore II: In its first two games, Navy has had 19 players record points including 12 different players produce their first career point. In Saturday's game against Furman, 18 players produced a point while 14 different players scored goals, including five first-time scorers - short-stick defensive middie
Colin Meehan, midfielders
Brock Martin and
James Flannery and attackmen
Matty Mayer and
Brian Calabrese.
• Pleased To Meet You: Of the 74 possible DI opponents, Navy entered the season having played 45 different teams. Navy will add three names to that list this year, as each of its first three games are against first-time opponents - Manhattan (W // 9-4), Furman (W // 19-3) and Richmond (Feb. 18). The teams Navy has yet to play are Albany, Bellarmine, Binghamton, Bryant, Cleveland State, Denver, Hampton, Hartford, High Point, LIU, Marquette, UMass Lowell, Mercer, Merrimack, Michigan, Monmouth, NJIT, Notre Dame, Quinnipiac, Richmond, Robert Morris, St. Bonaventure, St. John's, Siena, Utah, Villanova and Wagner.
• Kern Among Navy's Elite in Saves: Fourth-year starting goalkeeper
Ryan Kern used a career-high tying 18-save performance against Army last April to move past Kelly Award winner Matt Russell (2003-06) into 10th on Navy's all-time saves list. One of only 10 netminders in school history to reach the 400-save milestone, Kern has amassed 432 saves and stands ninth on the all-time list. His 167 saves a year ago stand 15th on the Mids' all-time single-season saves leader board and he joins RJ Wickham (188 in 2010) as the only two players in the last 20 years who rank among the Mids' top 15 on the single-season list.
• Countdown to 100: Junior attackman
Christian Daniel is 18 points shy of Navy's 100-point club. 2019 teammates
Greyson Torain and
Ryan Wade became the 34th and 35th players, respectively, to join the list and just the fifth set of classmates to achieve the feat. Daniel, who has been held without a point in just two of the 28 games over his career, has amassed 84 points on 56 goals and 26 assists (8 pts in 2020).
Scouting Richmond
• Seventh-year head coach Dan Chemotti's Richmond squad has split its first two games of the season, dropping a 14-13 double overtime heartbreaker to fourth-ranked Maryland in the opener and edging Marist, 13-11, last Friday.
• Richmond, the two-time defending Southern Conference Tournament Champion, is the preseason favorite to win the SoCon this spring. The Spiders earned their third NCAA Tournament berth in six years last spring. Richmond is also the only team in DI that has advanced to its respective conference tournament championship in each of the last six years.
• Richmond had 4 players selected to the 13-member Preseason All-Southern Conference team - Sean Menges, Ryan Lanchbury, Mitch Savoca and Jason Reynolds.
• Junior attackman Ryan Lanchbury leads the team in points with 10 on 3 goals and a team-best 7 assists. He is #10 in the country in assists per game (3.50). A year ago, he scored three or more goals in 13 of the 17 contests and entered the year fifth on Richmond's career scoring list. Rookie attackman Richie Connell has posted 9 points on a team-high 7 goals and 2 assists. He has scored his 7 goals on 11 shots, 8 on goal. Junior middie Mitch Savoca has 7 points on 6 goals and an assist and is coming off a season that saw him put up 31 points as the team's third-leading scorer.
• Senior long pole Sean Menges has been an active contributor for the Spiders, notching 7 caused turnovers in two games, while grabbing 11 ground balls. Menges is ranked #4 nationally in caused turnovers per game (3.50). Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore Ray Baran anchors the starting close defense had has 5 takeaways and 5 grounders to date.
• In his second season Andrew Hamilton leads the faceoff unit, taking 44 of the 59 draws this season. He owns a 54.5 winning percentage (24-44) and is second on the team with 12 ground balls. He was 17 of 30 against Maryland and 7 of 14 in the win over Marist.
• Redshirt junior Jack Rusbuldt is the man between the pipes, posting an 11.92 goals-against average and a 49.0 save percentage. He has played the entirety of both contests.
• As a team, Richmond stands #6 in caused turnovers (12.00), #44 in scoring defense (12.50) and #61 in man-down defense (33.3). Offensively, its scoring offense (13.00) is #25, its 22.50 points per game stands #19 and it is #12 in assists per game (9.50).
Navy vs. Richmond - The Series
• Tuesday's contest marks the first meeting between the two programs.
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