ANNAPOLIS, Md. // High Point senior Michael Ippolito's goal broke a 13-13 tie with 4:17 remaining in the contest to lift the Panthers (2-2) to a 14-13 victory over the Navy men's lacrosse team (3-2) Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in what was the inaugural meeting between the two programs.

Henry Tolker (A / Fr / Catonsville, Md.) and Max Hewitt (M / So / Denver, Colo.) paced the Mids with each scoring 3 goals and adding an assist. It marked the third-consecutive game Tolker has produced a hat trick, while it was Hewitt's first hat trick and marked a career high in points.

All-American attackman Asher Nolting turned in an 8-point day with 3 goals and 5 assists for High Point, while Ippolito finished with a game-high 4 goals, including 3 during High Point's 5-2 run to close out the game.

"It was a great college lacrosse game," said Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "It was a fun game to be a part of. It was the most exciting game that we have played this year in terms of a competitive game, back and forth, and we knew it was going to be like that. I have a ton of respect for Jon (Torpey) and his staff and how he has built that program and the personae that they play with.

"I challenged our guys all week to bring that to the table. To play with an edge that High Point is going to play with because those kids have something to prove. I thought our kids did that. I thought they stepped into the arena today, ready for a fight and played with energy and excitement. At the end of the day, in a good college lacrosse game with two good teams, someone is going to make one more play than the next team. Today it was High Point who that did that. There's no shame in that. While I'm disappointed that we lost, I'm proud of our guys for continuing to fight and give ourselves a chance at the end."

Five different players provided goals to help Navy jump out to a 6-2 advantage over the first 15 minutes of action. However, the Panthers had an answer in the second frame. Nolting played a role in 4 of High Point's 5 goals (1G, 3A) in the quarter, including an assist on Nick Murphy's extra-man goal with 12.6 seconds before half, to cut Navy's lead to just one (8-7) going into the break.

Dane Swanson (M / So / St. Mary's City, Md.) fed Tolker for his third goal of the game just 45 seconds into the third period to push Navy's lead back to two (9-7).

High Point again matched the Mids' energy when it came back to score back-to-back goals over a two-minute span to draw even (9-9) for the first time in the contest.

Navy forged back ahead when James Flannery (M / Sr / Garrett Park, Md.) took a Nick Cole (A / Sr / Ashburn, Va.) pass and used a stutter-step to break free of his defender for his first goal of the season. The Mids took an 11-9 lead when Cole orchestrated a fast break that was capped by senior defensive midfielder Ryan Chase's first-career goal.

The Panthers scored just over a minute later to cut the deficit in half. However, back-to-back goals by High Point in the final 48 seconds of the third quarter not only shifted the momentum in favor of the Panthers, it provided them their first lead in the contest at 12-11.

The two teams would trade goals in the fourth frame with Navy striking first and tying the game twice before Ippolito's game-winner with 4:17 left in the contest.

The Mids would get a handful of good looks in the final minute, but were unable to capitalize as they would find themselves short a goal at the final buzzer. Today's game marked the Mids' first one-goal game since the 2019 season when it split a pair of one-goal decisions against Army (L, 9-8 OT) and Boston U. (W, 13-12).

Statistically speaking, the game was nearly even though did hold an advantage in shots (38-37), saves (10-8), faceoffs (18-12) and ground balls (44-27). High Point capitalized on 2 of its 4 extra-man opportunities, while the Mids were 0-for-2.

Navy returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Bethlehem, Pa. to face Lehigh in both teams' Patriot League opener. Action is set for a 3:00 pm faceoff from Ulrich Sports Complex.

### Go Navy ###