ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 17 Navy women's lacrosse team (6-1) begins Patriot League competition against Bucknell (3-4) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
 
The game between Navy and Bucknell will serve as the Patriot League opener for both teams. The Midshipmen are 11-2 (.846) all-time in conference openers with a pair of those wins coming against the Bison. Navy is 5-1 (.833) when opening Patriot League play in Annapolis.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
No. 17 Navy enters the week 6-1 on the season. The Midshipmen return to action after posting back-to-back victories over ranked opponents. Navy beat ranked opponents in back-to-back games for the first time since 2018 when Navy defeated Hopkins and Loyola in the NCAA Tournament. The Mids defeated No. 15 Drexel, 13-6, on Tuesday, March 1 before taking down No. 16 Johns Hopkins, 13-12 in overtime, on Thursday, March 10.
 
Offensively, Navy has tallied 137 points on 96 goals and 41 assists in seven games. The Mids have had a balanced attack so far this season. Of the 14 players who have netted goals, seven have been upperclassmen (juniors/seniors) and seven have been underclassmen (freshmen/sophomores). The underclassmen and upperclassmen have each registered 48 goals accounting for 50.0-percent of the goals scored apiece. The upperclassmen have accounted for 54.7-percent of the points scored with 65.9-percent of the team's assists.
 
The Mids are led by Leelee Denton (Nashville, Tenn.), Kasey Dietzel (Warrington, Pa.), Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.), Gil Eby (Towson, Md.), Charlotte Ryan (Tully, N.Y.), Lola Leone (Bay Shore, N.Y.), and Lindsay Beardmore (Annapolis, Md.).
 
Denton paces the offense with a team-high 20 points on a team-best 16 goals. The sophomore has five hat tricks in seven games on the year. Dietzel leads the team with 11 assists, while adding eight goals for 19 total points. Roelofs is third on the team with 18 points on 13 goals and five assists. Eby is fourth on the team with 15 points (10g 5a), while Ryan (13g 1a) is fifth with 14 points. Leone (10g 3a) and Beardmore (9g 4a) round out Navy's double-figure scorers with 13 points apiece.
 
Roelofs leads the team with 35 draw controls, while Dietzel is second with 28.
 
Defensively, the Mids picked up 138 ground balls, caused 51 turnovers, and tallied 64 saves.
 
Christine Fiore (Darian, Conn.) has grabbed a team-high 18 ground balls, while Grace Loughery (Perkasie, Pa.) has added 12. Dietzel, Alexis Bell (Johns Creek, Ga.), and Jo Torres (Prince Frederick, Md.) have added 11 ground balls apiece. Bell leads the team with seven caused turnovers, while Erin Carson (New Albany, Ohio) and Loughery have added six GB apiece.
 
Torres leads the team with 54 of Navy's 62 saves in 371:52 minutes of action. Torres has earned five victories with a 49.5 save percentage. She is joined by Emma Richardell (Bethesda, Md.) who picked up her first collegiate victory over No. 16 Johns Hopkins. She has eight saves in just under 46 minutes of action.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Bucknell enters the weekend 3-4 overall. The Bison dropped a 20-10 decision to Binghamton on Wednesday afternoon and are currently on a three-game losing streak.
 
This season, the Bison have amassed 125 points on 81 goals and 44 assists in seven games. Bucknell has won 95 draw controls with 123 ground balls and 76 caused turnovers. Bison's goalies have combined for 72 saves in seven games with 91 goals allowed with a 44.2 save percentage and a 13.00 goals against average.
 
Bucknell is led by Laurel McHale who paces the offensive attack with 24 points on 18 goals and six assists. Tatumn Kohlbrenner and Katie Wendell are tied for second with 17 points on 11 goals and six assists apiece. Caitlin Tucker has seen a majority of the action at goal. She has recorded a team-high 46 saves, while surrendering 53 goals for a 12.22 goals against average.
 
All-Time Series
The game marks the 14th meeting between the two teams in women's lacrosse. Navy holds a 13-0 (1.000) overall record against Bucknell, including 7-0 (1.000) mark in Annapolis.
 
The two teams have meet on the lacrosse field each season except one, dating back to the Mids' inaugural season in 2008. The two teams did not play against one another in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, marking the first and only time in program history the two teams did not meet during a season.
 
National Rankings
A week after entering the national rankings, the Navy women's lacrosse team moved up to No. 17 in the ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Poll this week. In addition to ranking No. 17 in the ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Poll, the Mids are also ranked No. 17 according to US Lacrosse Magazine. The Mids have been ranked twice this season and 65 total weeks in program history, including a streak of 47 consecutive weeks from the final poll of the 2017 season (May 30, 2017) to April 12, 2021.
 
Last Time Out: Navy 13, #16 Johns Hopkins 12 – overtime (March 10, 2022)
No. 25 Navy used a golden goal from sophomore Lindsay Beardmore (Annapolis, Md.) to post a 13-12 overtime victory over No. 16 Johns Hopkins at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Mids trailed early, but relied on solid defense to keep the game close in order to earn the overtime victory.
 
The win is the second consecutive victory over a ranked opponent. The Midshipmen defeated No. 15 Drexel, 13-6, last Tuesday. Navy beat ranked opponents in back-to-back games for the first time since 2018 when Navy defeated Hopkins and Loyola in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Offensively, Navy tallied 13 goals with seven assists for 20 total points. The Mids had five players notch multiple goals, including Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) and Leelee Denton (Nashville, Tenn.) who posted hat tricks. Beardmore, Kasey Dietzel (Warrington, Pa.), and Gil Eby (Towson, Md.) added two goals apiece, while Charlotte Ryan (Tully, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring with a goal.
 
Roelofs paced the squad with 10 draw controls, while Eby and Dietzel added four and two draws, respectively. Roelofs moved into second place all-time in Navy's career record book for draw controls, passing Jenna Collins (2015-18) who had 293 career draws. Roelofs now has 302 draws, making her the second player in school history with 300 or more draws, joining Navy record holder Loren Generi (2012-15) who finished her career with 493.
 
The Mids caused seven of Johns Hopkins' 14 turnovers on the night. Alexis Bell (Johns Creek, Ga.) and Grace Loughery (Perkasie, Pa.) paced the squad with two caused turnovers apiece. Christine Fiore (Darien, Conn.) led the team with five ground balls, while Bell added four GB.
 
Freshman Emma Richardell (Bethesda, Md.) earned her first collegiate victory at goal. The rookie entered the game in the second quarter, finishing the game with six saves and a pair of ground balls in a little over 34 minutes of action. She surrendered four goals in a little over a half of play. Jo Torres (Prince Frederick, Md.) started the game at goal. She registered one save in 25 minutes of action.