Game Day Storylines
• Inside the Game: Navy (3-1, 0-0 Patriot League) will look to extend its three-game winning streak when it plays host to High Point (1-2, 0-0 SoCon) Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. Faceoff is set for 12:00 pm. The Mids are led by Joe Amplo, who owns a 12-6 record in three seasons at the helm of the Navy program, while High Point's Jon Torpey has amassed a 65-67 record in 11 seasons as its head coach.
• Follow the Action: Saturday's contest will be streamed via ESPN+ (subscription based) with Joe Miller and Phil Bergman on the call. Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.) There will be no radio coverage for the lacrosse game, however, as 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV will carry Navy's men's basketball game at Colgate with Pete Medhurst calling the action.
• Pleased to Meet You: When head coach Joe Amplo took over the Navy program in 2020, Navy had played 45 of the other 74 DI schools (now 72) who have men's lacrosse programs. Navy added three names to the list in 2020, facing Manhattan (W, 9-4), Furman (W, 19-3) and Richmond (L, 9-12). The Mids have scheduled two additional first-time opponents for this spring - Mercer (W, 15-5) and High Point (Feb. 26). The teams Navy has yet to play (23) include Albany, Bellarmine, Binghamton, Bryant, Cleveland State, Denver, Hampton, LIU, Marquette, UMass-Lowell, Merrimack, Michigan, Monmouth, NJIT, Notre Dame, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, St. Bonaventure, St. John's, Siena, Utah, Villanova and Wagner.
• "D" Locking It Down: After allowing 11 goals in its opener against Mount St. Mary's, Navy's defense has held each of its last 3 opponents to 6 or fewer goals (5 by Mercer, 6 by Hofstra, 6 by Manhattan). It's the first time Navy has achieved that mark since holding six-straight foes to 5 or fewer goals in 2008. The Mids head into Saturday's contest ranked #3 in scoring defense, allowing 7.00 goals per game.
• Bonitz Joins Caused Turnovers Leader Board: With a pair of caused turnovers against Manhattan on Sunday, Jackson Bonitz (So / D) joined Navy's all-time caused turnovers list. Bonitz is tied for 18th on the list with 19 takeaways in 13-career games. He is 1 shy of taking sole possession of 18th, while he needs 2 to tie former teammate Jeff Durden (21, 2018-21) for 17th and 3 to tie Alex Heyward (22, 2012-15) for 16th.
• Goalkeeper Shuffle: Navy has had 3 different starting goalies in each of Joe Amplo's 3 seasons as head coach. Ryan Kern was a four-year starter for the Mids, making his final start in Amplo's first season (2020) that was cut short due to COVID-19. Last season, Spencer Rees garnered All-America and Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year honors as a senior and a first-time starter. This season, Pat Ryan (Jr) stands between the pipes where he is ranked #2 nationally in goals-against average (7.23) and #14 in save percentage (57.6).
• 1-2 Midfield Punch: Starting midfielders Patrick Skalniak (Jr) and Dane Swanson (So) have been sensational for the Mids this season. Skalniak is Navy's leading scorer with 19 points on 10 goals and 9 assists, while Swanson has turned in 13 points on 8 goals and 5 assists. While not unusual to have a midfielder lead the team in scoring (Ryan Wade did so in 2019), it is unusual to have your top-two scorers out of the midfield. So rare, it's never happened in the previous 114 years of Navy lacrosse. Perhaps the closest would be in 1969 when Dennis Yatras played both midfield and attack (two-thirds midfield) and paired up with Harry MacLaughlin to lead the Mids with 29 and 28 points, respectively.
• Scoring Early and Often: In its four combined games, Navy has outscored its opponent 46-28. The Mids have been balanced among the 4 quarters, scoring 11, 12, 13 and 10 goals and is outscoring the opponent in each of the 4 quarters (11-6 / 12-4 / 13-12 / 10-6). Navy has outscored its opponents 23-10 in the opening quarter, while the second half it has a slight 23-18 advantage.
• Jarosz Joins 100-Win Club: Behind his 9-for-9 performance against Manhattan last Sunday, Jacob Jarosz (Sr / FO) became the 17th player in school history to reach 100-career faceoff wins. He is one of two current Navy players that is ranked on the Mids' all-time career faceoffs won leader board. Jarosz stands 17th with 107 wins, while Nick Barry (Sr) is seventh with 186 wins. Faceoff numbers have only been kept since 1995.
• Perfect Faceoff Games: Jacob Jarosz (Sr) is just the third player in program history to put together a perfect faceoff game attempting 9 or more draws. Williams Wallace is atop the list, winning all 13 draws he took against Lafayette on March 15, 2005, while Brady Dove was 10-for-10 against VMI on Feb. 8, 2015. There are 4 additional perfect games in school history attempting at least 5 faceoffs.