ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 19 Navy women's lacrosse team (2-3) travels to Gainesville, Fla. for a top 20 match up against No. 8 Florida (5-2) on Tuesday afternoon at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. Opening draw is slated for 12:00 p.m. The game will be streamed live on YouTube and live stats will be available.
 
All-Time Series
The game between Navy and Florida will mark the third meeting between the two teams. The series is tied at 1-1 with each team winning on its home field.
 
In the inaugural game between the two teams, the Midshipmen led 10-2 early, but ultimately fell 19-16 to the Gators. Last season, Navy scored the final five goals to come from behind and upset No. 11 Florida, 14-13. The Mids trailed by as many as five goals in the second half, but chipped away at the deficit to take the lead with under 20 seconds to win the game.
 
The game will mark the second time twin sisters Kayla Harris (Navy) and Brianna Harris (Florida) will play against each other. (Brianna missed the game in 2018 with an injury)
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy enters the game 2-3 overall, including a 1-1 mark on the road. The Mids are 1-2 overall this season against ranked opponents.
 
The Midshipmen offense has tallied 100 points on 64 goals and 36 assists through five games. Nine different players have registered points, including five – Kelly Larkin (Alexandria, Va.), Nicole Victory (Issaquah, Wash.), Kayla Harris (Annapolis, Md.), Natalie Irwin (Annandale, Va.), and Regan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) – who have tallied double-digit points.
 
Larkin leads the team with 26 points on a team-high 12 goals and team-best 14 assists. Victory and Harris are second and third on the team with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Harris is tied with Larkin with the team lead in goals with 12, while Victory three helpers back (11) of Larkin for the team lead in assists. Irwin has 11 points on 10 goal and an assist with Roelofs adding double-digit points on the year, tallying 10 points on nine goals and an assist.
 
Harris and Roelofs continue to gain possessions for the Midshipmen, combining for 55 draw controls. Harris leads the team with 28 DC, while Roelofs is second with 27 draws thus far.
 
Defensively, Gil Eby (Towson, Md.) anchors the Navy backline with assistance from midfielder Annalise Heyward (Charlotte, N.C.). Eby leads all Navy defenders with nine ground balls and trails only Harris who has a team-high 12 GB. Heyward has a team-best seven caused turnovers, while Eby is second with six.
 
Abbi Young (Alamo, Calif.) has seen the majority of the time between the pipes for Navy at goal. The sophomore has 61 saves so far this season (12.2 per game), while adding six ground balls and two caused turnovers. Young has posted three consecutive games – four on the season – with double-digit saves, including a career-high 16 stops against Villanova.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Florida enters the week with a 5-2 overall record and is coming off a 17-10 victory over High Point on Saturday.
 
Brianna Harris led the offensive charge against the Panthers with five goals, tying her career-best mark. Shannon Kavanagh added four, while Emily Heller posted a career-high three goals.
 
Florida dominated the draw circle, coming up with 21-of-29 draws in the game. Kavanagh led the way with 13 draw controls, tying both her career-high mark and the second-highest total in program history. Kaitlyn Dabkowski registered four draw controls, while Heller added two.
 
Defensively, the Gators caused 10 turnovers and held the Panthers to a .307 clip (10-of-27 shooting). Cara Trombetta and Emily Petillo each recorded three caused turnovers. In the cage, Sarah Reznick recorded eight saves for a .444 clip, while Kenzii Kittell added a save of her own in the game.
 
Tewaaraton Award Watch List
The initial Tewaaraton Award Watch List was announced on Thursday, Feb. 13 and Kelly Larkin (Alexandria, Va.) was named to the list. The lists include the top players across all three divisions of NCAA lacrosse and highlight the early contenders for the Tewaaraton Award. 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the Award.
 
This is the third consecutive season that Larkin has been named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List (2018, '19, '20). Last season, Larkin advanced past the initial cut to become a Tewaaraton Award Nominee (Top 25).
 
One of the most decorated women's lacrosse players in Navy history, Larkin is an All-American (2017, '18, '19), All-Region ('18, '19), and All-Conference performer (2017, '18, '19). She holds the Navy and Patriot League career record for points, while also holding the Midshipmen career mark for assists. Larkin ranks fifth in Navy history with 195 career goals, while also ranking in the school's top five in points per game, goals per game, assists per game, shots attempted, and shots on goal.
 
National Rankings
The Navy women's lacrosse team is currently ranked in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Association national poll. The Mids have been ranked nationally for 37 consecutive weeks, dating back to the final poll of the 2017 season. This week Navy is No. 19 according to the IWLCA, while receiving votes according to the Inside Lacrosse poll.
 
This season Navy started the season ranked in all three preseason polls. The Mids started the year ranked No. 15 according to the IWLCA, while coming in at No. 17 and No. 16 per Inside Lacrosse and  US Lacrosse Magazine, respectively.
 
The Midshipmen closed out the 2019 season ranked 16th according to the IWLCA Coaches Poll, 18th in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, and 15th in the US Lacrosse Magazine Poll. The final rankings marked the third consecutive season that the Mids finished the season ranked in the polls.
 
Last Time vs. Florida (March 2, 2019)
The No. 17 Navy women's lacrosse team scored the final five goals of the game to come from behind and upset No. 11 Florida, 14-13, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Mids trailed by as many as five goals in the second half, but chipped away at the deficit to take the lead with under 20 seconds to win the game.
 
Kelly Larkin (Alexandria, Va.) gave Navy its first lead of the game with 16.5 seconds remaining in the game, and Annalise Heyward (Charlotte, N.C.) grabbed the ensuing draw control – her 10th of the game – to secure the victory.
 
Trailing 10-5 in the second half, Navy used a free-position shot by Kayla Harris (Annapolis, Md.) and a goal by Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) to trim the margin to just three. Following a Florida goal, Andie O'Sullivan (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) and Roelofs closed the gap to two with back-to-back goals. With five and a half minutes to play, the Gators scored to push the advantage to 13-9.
 
Navy scored the final five goals of the game over the final 4:30 to post the come-from-behind victory.
 
Larkin opened up the run with a free-position goal. Marina Lazarides (Westminster, Md.) took a pass from Roelofs and buried it into the back of the net to trim the margin to 13-11. Harris followed with an unassisted goal to close the gap to one. O'Sullivan knotted the game at 13-13 with her fourth goal of the game.
 
Florida won the next draw control, but the Gators' shot attempt was wide and the Midshipmen backed the shot up to gain possession with under a minute to play. Navy worked the ball around the arc and Heyward was able to find Larkin cutting towards the goal. Larkin buried the ball in the back of the goal to give the Mids their first lead of the game with 16.5 seconds remaining.
 
Heyward sealed the victory by winning the final draw of the game and running the final seconds off the clock.
 
With the win, the Midshipmen improve to 4-1 overall, including four straight victories. Florida drops to 1-3 overall with all four games coming against top 20 opponents.
 
Navy finished the game with 14 goals on 29 shots. The Mids won 16 of 28 draws on the day, while playing nearly even in ground balls (Florida 19, Navy 18).
 
O'Sullivan paced the offense with four goals, while Harris and Larkin chipped in three goals apiece. Roelofs added two goals and an assist for three points, while Heyward finished with a goal and an assist to go along with a team-best 10 draw controls.
 
Defensively, the Midshipmen tallied 12 saves in the game. Gab Harchelroad (Pittsburgh, Pa.) started the game, recording eight saves and allowing 10 goals. She gave way to freshman Abbi Young (Alamo, Calif.) who closed out the final 15:49 for her first collegiate victory. Young registered four saves, while allowing three goals. Marie Valenti (Bechtelsville, Pa.) paced the team with five ground balls with Heyward adding four. O'Sullivan caused a team-best two turnovers on the day.
 
Last Time Out
The No. 17 Navy women's lacrosse team dropped a 16-7 decision to No. 10 Maryland at the Maryland Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex in College Park, Md. The Midshipmen fell behind early, and were not able to generate enough offense to make a comeback.
 
Defensively, Abbi Young (Alamo, Calif.) posted 15 saves to try to keep the Midshipmen in the game. For Young, it was her third consecutive game with double digit saves and the fourth of the young season. In her first five games as a starter, Young has recorded 61 saves for an average of 12.2 per game.
 
Lauren Herrington (Round Rock, Texas) led the way with a team-high four ground balls, while Young, Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.), and Kayla Harris (Annapolis, Md.) added two ground balls apiece.
 
The Mids were unable to control the ball most of the night as the Terps won the draw control battle 18-6. The disparity in the draw led to Maryland outshooting Navy, 42-20. The Terps had three players finish the game with hat tricks. Maryland's Maddie McSally was also solid at goal for the Terps, posting 11 saves.
 
Offensively, senior captain Natalie Irwin (Annandale, Va.) paced the team with three goals for her second hat trick of the season. She was joined by Harris who finished the game with a pair goals. Kelly Larkin (Alexandria, Va.) led the team with three assists, while adding a goal for a team-high four points.