ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The #19 Navy women's lacrosse team (3-0, 0-0 Patriot League) heads to West Point, N.Y. to take on Army (0-2, 0-1 PL) in the annual Army-Navy Star Game, which is part of the overall Star Series, presented by USAA.
 
Opening draw for the game is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Michie Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available throughout the game.
 
Saturday's game is the first Patriot League game for Navy since April 25, 2019. It has been 702 days – just over one year and 11 months – since the Midshipmen played a conference game. (The 2020 Patriot League season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.)
 
Spectator Policy
Attendance to the game is available to West Point Cadets and faculty / staff only.
 
All-Time Series
The game marks the sixth meeting between the two teams in women's lacrosse. Navy is 5-0 in the series with two victories in West Point.
 
The game will be third time the two teams will meet for the Star, as part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA. The Midshipmen claimed the first Star Game, 20-7, in West Point in 2018 before notching a 21-8 win in Annapolis in 2019.
 
Navy has outscored Army, 94-37. The Mids have held the Black Knights to single-digit goals in four of the five contests.
 
Senior attacker Karoline Nease (Navy) and freshman attacker Carleigh Armstrong (Army) are first cousins. Nease's dad, Carl, and Armstrong's dad, Creighton, are both 1992 graduates of Navy.
 
Army head coach Kristen Skiera, formerly Kristen Waagbo, was an assistant coach at Navy (volunteer 2008-09, assistant 2011-12) under head coach Cindy Timchal.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
The Midshipmen are off to a 3-0 start and are looking to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2014 when the Mids opened the year 9-0. Saturday's game is the first Patriot League game for Navy since April 25, 2019 when Navy posted a 13-12 victory over Boston University on the road. It has been 702 days – just over one year and 11 months – since the Midshipmen played a conference game.
 
Offensively, the Midshipmen are led by seniors Nicole Victory (Issaquah, Wash.), Ellie Lecker (Ponte Vedra, Fla.), and Marina Lazarides (Westminster, Md.). Victory paces the offense with a team-high 10 goals, three assists, and 13 points, while Lecker has eight goals to her credit. Following back-to-back hat tricks, Lazarides is third on the team with six goals.
 
Defensively, Navy is led by senior captain Caroline Kwon (Cooksville, Md.). She paces the squad with five caused turnovers, while junior Christine Fiore (Darien, Conn.) has four and sophomore Erin Carson (New Albany, Ohio) has three. Fiore leads the team with nine ground balls. She is followed by Carson and Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) who have six each. Roelofs leads the team with 22 of Navy's 41 draw controls.
 
Abbi Young (Alamo, Calif.) has seen a majority of minutes at goal for the Midshipmen. The junior has worked 131 minutes of action, recording a pair of wins and eight saves. She is joined by senior Annie Maloney (Ellicott City, Md.) who has logged just under 49 minutes between the pipes with a win and two saves.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Saturday's game will be the third of the season for Army. The Black Knights are 0-2 overall and 0-1 in Patriot League play. Army opened the year against St. Joseph's (L, 13-9), but then had to pause the season for three weeks. Play resumed last weekend with the Black Knights falling to Lehigh, 14-7, on the road to open Patriot League competition.
 
Led by Cameron Manor (5 points), seven Black Knights have registered points in Army's first two games. Caroline Raymond leads the team with four goals, while Manor, Madeline Lenkart, and Julia Franzoni each have three goals. Defensively, Army has used a pair of goalkeepers with Taylor Miller and Hannah Slomkowski each seeing time between the posts. Miller registered eight saves, while Slomkowski has recorded seven.
 
Last year, Army opened the year 7-0 before the coronavirus pandemic halted competition.
 
National Rankings
Following a 3-0 start to the 2021 season, the Navy women's lacrosse team is ranked in all three national polls. The Midshipmen are ranked #19 according to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA), while coming in at #16 per the Inside Lacrosse media poll and #19 per the US Lacrosse Magazine poll.
 
The Mids have been ranked nationally according to the IWLCA for 45 consecutive weeks, dating back to the final poll of the 2017 season.
 
Navy (#19 women, #18 men) is among nine (9) schools whose women's and men's programs are currently ranked among the top 20 in their respective coaches polls, joining North Carolina (1/1), Syracuse (2/4), Notre Dame (5/6), Maryland (7/3), Virginia (8/9), Duke (9/2), Loyola (13/12), and Richmond (18/20).
 
Last Time Out: Navy at George Washington (Feb. 27, 2021)
The #20 Navy women's lacrosse team jumped out to an early lead and did not look back as the Midshipmen posted a 22-2 victory over George Washington at the GW Lacrosse Field at the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex.
 
The Mids led 14-0 at halftime, marking the first time since 2016 that Navy held a team scoreless in a half, subsequently, also against George Washington. The two goals allowed was the fewest by the Mids' defense since holding GW to one goal in a 9-1 win on March 2, 2016. It was the most goals scored by the Midshipmen since posting a 22-6 win over Holy Cross in 2019.
 
Offensively, twelve different Midshipmen scored at least one goal with seven notching multiple scores in the game. Navy dominated the circle, winning 18 of 25 draws, including 14 of 15 in the first half. The Mids spent a majority of the day in the offensive third of the field, but were able to convert all five clear attempts in the game.
 
Defensively, Navy caused seven turnovers, while picking up eight ground balls. Six different Midshipmen were credited with caused turnovers, while eight different Mids picked up ground balls in the game. The defensive unit held the Colonials scoreless for 31:39, marking the first time Navy held a team scoreless in a half since 2016. The defense limited George Washington to six total shots with just three shots on goal.