ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's lacrosse team (8-3, 4-2 Patriot League, 2-2 PL South) begins competition in the 2021 Patriot League Tournament on Monday afternoon at Lehigh (7-3, 6-1 PL, 3-1 PL South). Opening draw at Ulrich Sports Complex in Bethlehem, Pa. is slated for 1:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available for the game.
 
Spectator Policy
Spectator policies for the 2021 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Championship will be determined by the host institution. For up-to-date information on the spectator policies from around the Patriot League, CLICK HERE.
 
Navy in the Patriot League Tournament
Navy's attendance in the 2021 Patriot League Tournament marks the Mids' 13th appearance in the conference tournament in their 14-year history. The 2020 PL Tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Navy is 17-6 overall in the tournament.
 
The game against Lehigh is the second quarterfinal game for the Midshipmen in tournament history. In its only other appearance in the quarterfinals, Navy defeated Holy Cross, 17-5, at home in 2015. The Mids are 2-0 in Bethlehem, defeating Colgate (W, 15-10) and Lehigh (W, 11-9) to win the 2010 Patriot League Championship.
 
The Mids have advanced to the conference championship 10 times, winning the title six times – 2010, '11, '12, '13, '17, '18.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
The Midshipmen are 8-3 on the season after posting a 14-8 win over Bucknell on Friday evening. The victory put the Mids in the Patriot League Tournament.
 
Offensively, the Midshipmen are led by Nicole Victory (Issaquah, Wash.), Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.), Marina Lazarides (Westminster, Md.), and Gil Eby (Towson, Md.). Victory paces the offense with a team-high 40 points on a team-best 26 goals and 14 assists. Roelofs is second on the squad with 18 goals and 11 helpers for 28 total points. Lazarides has tallied 28 points on 21 goals and seven assists, while Eby has notched 18 goals with an assist for 19 total points.
 
Defensively, Navy is led by Christine Fiore (Darien, Conn.), who paces the Mids with 25 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers. Erin Carson (New Albany, Ohio) and Caroline Kwon (Cooksville, Md.) boast 11 caused turnovers apiece. Carson and Lauren Herrington (Round Rock, Texas) tied for second on the team with 20 ground balls each.
 
Roelofs leads the team with 84 draw controls on the season. For her career, the junior has 257 draws and is 20 draws shy of tying Julia Collins (2015-18) for third all-time with 277.
 
Jo Torres (Prince Frederick, Md.) has worked her way into the starting lineup at goal for the Midshipmen. The freshman has appeared in eight games, making five starts. She has a team-high 57 saves in just under 365 minutes of action. Abbi Young (Alamo, Calif.) has also seen time in eight games, making six starts. The junior has 18 saves and three wins on the year.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Lehigh is 7-3 (6-1 Patriot League, 3-1 PL South) on the season following its 26-6 victory over American on Wednesday, April 28.
 
The Mountain Hawks have four players with 30 or more points on the season. Sondra Dickey leads the team with 39 points on 33 goals and six assists, while Emma Eberhardt leads the team with 22 assists with 15 goals for 37 points. Gabby Schneider (18g 18a) and Katia Carnevale (34g 2a) are tied with 36 points.
 
Defensively, Dickey leads Lehigh with a team-best 26 caused turnovers and 29 ground balls. In addition, Dickey paces the Mountain Hawks with 47 draw controls. Cecily Redfern is second with 40 draws, while Hannah Cermack adds 22 ground balls.
 
At goal, Samantha Sagi has played and started in all 10 games for the Mountain Hawks. She has recorded 79 saves with 89 goals allowed in 541 minutes of action.
 
All-Time Series
The game marks the 19th meeting between the two teams. Navy holds a 13-5 record all-time against Lehigh, winning 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two teams. The Midshipmen are 5-3 all-time against the Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem, Pa., winning five of the last six road games.
 
The Navy defense has held Lehigh to single-digits in 12 of the 18 contests. The Mids are 12-0 when holding the Mountain Hawks to single-digit goals and 1-5 when allowing 10 or more scores.
 
Navy and Lehigh have met five times in the Patriot League Tournament with the Mids posting a 5-0 mark against the Mountain Hawks in the postseason. The two teams met in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament in two of the last three conference tournaments, 2017 and 2018.
 
Last Time They Met (April 10, 2021)
The #21 Navy women's lacrosse team dropped a 12-7 decision to Lehigh at the Ulrich Sports Complex in Bethlehem, Pa. The Midshipmen led 7-6 with 14 minutes to play, but six consecutive goals by the Mountain Hawks to end the game gave the hosts the victory.
 
The loss marked the first time since 2016 that Navy had multiple Patriot League losses in a season and snapped the Mids' 11-game winning streak over the Mountain Hawks. In 18 meetings with Lehigh, the Midshipmen have allowed the Mountain Hawks to score double-digit goals in six contests. With the win, Lehigh holds a 5-1 advantage when scoring double-figures against Navy.
 
Offensively, the Midshipmen failed to get into a solid rhythm. Navy finished the game with seven goals on 20 shots, but were limited to just a pair of goals on six attempts in the second half.
 
Gil Eby (Towson, Md.) finished the game with her second consecutive hat trick. The junior tallied three first-half goals to pace the offense, while also picking up a pair of ground balls, winning three draw controls, and causing three turnovers. Grace Zagaja (Centerport, N.Y.) notched her first collegiate multi-goal game, netting to goals, while Nicole Victory (Issaquah, Wash.) chipped in three points with a goal and a team-high two assists. Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) was able to find the back of the net, while Marina Lazarides (Westminster, Md.) contributed a helper.
 
At goal, Joe Torres (Prince Frederick, Md.) worked a complete game for the Midshipmen. The freshman was one save shy of her third double-digit save performance of the season. Torres finished the game with nine saves, while surrendering 12 goals. In four games, Torres has a team high 35 saves (8.75 sv/gm).
 
Defensively, Navy caused seven of Lehigh's 13 turnovers on the day. Eby and Christine Fiore (Darien, Conn.) caused three and two turnovers, respectively, while Caroline Kwon (Cooksville, Md.) and Erin Carson (New Albany, Ohio) added one each. Kwon paced the team with four ground balls, while Athena Corroon (Greenwich, Conn.) picked up three in the game. Lauren Herrington (Round Rock, Texas), Carson, Eby and Fiore finished the game with two ground balls apiece.
 
Navy won the draw control battle, 14-7, with Roelofs leading the way with 10 draws on the day. The 10 draws move the junior into fourth place in Navy history with 223 career draws, passing Kayla Harris (2017-20) and Erin Rawlick (2008-10). Eby was able to win three draws, while Caroline Stefans (Coral Springs, Fla.) recorded her first collegiate draw on the day.
 
The Midshipmen played a man down for nearly 10 minutes of the game as Navy was charged with five yellow cards, compared to just one by Lehigh. In a very physical game, the Mids were whistled for 19 fouls, while the Mountain Hawks were called for 18.