Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game: Coming off an historic win over 18th-ranked Johns Hopkins a week ago, Navy (5-3, 1-1 Patriot League) returns to conference action on Saturday when it plays host to Holy Cross (0-7, 0-3 Patriot League) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Faceoff is slated for 12:00 pm. The Mids are led by
Joe Amplo, who owns a 14-8 record in three seasons at the helm of the Navy program, while J.L. Reppert has posted a 2-11record in two seasons as the Crusaders' head coach.
• Follow the Action: Saturday's contest will be streamed via ESPN+ (subscription based) with Pete Medhurst and
Joe Miller on the call. Additionally, the game will be carried live on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV, as well as 1500 AM WFED with coverage beginning at 11:45 am with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show. Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.)
• Postgame Autograph Session: Navy will hold its annual Meet the Mids event following Saturday's contest against Holy Cross. Members of the Navy lacrosse team will be available for autographs under the Superintendent's Tent located in the Southwest corner of the stadium, with the first 250 kids in line for the postgame autograph session receiving a Navy lacrosse "Meet the Mids" t-shirt, compliments of Annapolis area Chick-fil-A.
Game Day Storylines
• Hewitt Garners National Attention: Navy's
Max Hewitt (So / M) was named to the USILA National Team of the Week after scoring a career-high 4 goals, including the game-tying and game-winning targets just 49 seconds apart, to lead Navy to its first win over 18th-ranked Johns Hopkins on its home field in 53 years (1969). The Mids had lost 22-consecutive games against the Blue Jays at Homewood Field. Hewitt finished with career highs in goals (4), assists (2) and points (6), while posting his third hat trick in the last four contests (3 vs. High Point / 3 vs. Lehigh). Remarkably, Hewitt and fellow starting midfielder
Patrick Skalniak (Jr), who turned in 6 points for a second-straight game, combined to play a role in 10 of the Mids' 11 goals.
• 30-Point Midfielders: Last Friday,
Patrick Skalniak (Jr) became the program's 17th different midfielder to reach 30 points in a season when he contributed 6 points (3G, 3A) in the Mids' 11-10 win at Johns Hopkins. The feat has been accomplished 27 times by 17 different players. Skalniak, meanwhile, is tied with Graham Gill (2005) for 10th on the Mids' single-season scoring chart by midfielders. Only 4 midfielders in school history have registered 40 or more points in a season - 44 by Bob DeSimone (1975), 48 by Ryan Wade (2019), 53 by Glen Miles (1986) and 53 by Brian Keith (1989).
Dane Swanson (So), meanwhile, needs just 8 points to join Skalniak on the list.
• Fourth-Quarter Comebacks: Navy has used strong performances in the fourth quarter to capture wins in each of its last two contests. Navy broke a 10-game losing streak (8 under
Joe Amplo) when trailing going into the fourth quarter when it dealt Colgate an 11-10 defeat on March 13. The Mids trailed Colgate 8-6 after 3 quarters of play and fell behind by 3 after the Raiders scored just under 4 minutes into the final frame.
Patrick Skalniak (Jr / M), who scored his fourth-consecutive goal for the Mids at 10:36 in the fourth quarter to spark a 5-goal run by the Mids and propel them to victory. In last week's win over Johns Hopkins, the Mids outscored the Blue Jays 4-3 in the fourth with
Max Hewitt (So / M) scoring the final 3 for Navy to earn the come-from-behind victory at Homewood Field.
• Young "D" Holding Strong: All-Patriot League defenseman
Jackson Bonitz (So) has served as the backbone of an inexperienced defensive unit this spring. Bonitz, who leads the team with 13 takeaways, is joined by first-year starters at goalkeeper (
Pat Ryan), close defense (
Kyle Fairbanks,
Nick LiCalzi), long-stick midfielder (
Zach Snider) and short-stick defensive midfielder (
Ryan Chase,
Henry Rentz,
Augie Fratt). Despite their youth, the Mids have been stout and are ranked #6 nationally in scoring defense (9.12) and #16 in man-down defense (12-17, 70.6). Ryan, who is the third different starting keeper in
Joe Amplo's 3 seasons, is ranked #7 in goals-against average (9.27) and #26 in save percentage (52.9).
• Welcome Back: Second-year Holy Cross head coach J.L. Reppert is certainly no stranger to Navy lacrosse, nor to playing at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Reppert is a 1999 graduate of the Naval Academy where he was a four-year letterwinner and captain of the lacrosse team his senior year. He returned to the Academy to serve as an assistant coach under Rick Sowell from 2012-14. This will be Reppert's first appearance at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium as a head coach and his first game coaching on the opposing sideline since Maryland played at Navy on Feb. 23, 2019.
Scouting Holy Cross
• Taking over the head coaching duties in the midst of COVID, J.L. Reppert is in his second season directing the Holy Cross program. The Crusaders turned in a 2-4 record in a shortened season a year ago, while this spring they are still looking for their first win. Holy Cross enters the weekend with a 0-7 record, including a 0-3 mark in Patriot League action. The Crusaders' league losses have come against Army (14-8), Lehigh (17-7) and Boston U. (16-10).
• Holy Cross has been outscored 122-51 in its 7 games this season and are ranked 70th in scoring offense (7.29) and 71st in scoring defense (17.43). Breaking it down into quarters, the opponent has outscored Holy Cross 33-8 in the first quarter, 34-13 in the second, 31-13 in the third and 24-17 in the fourth.
• Dean DiNanno (Jr / A) is atop the scoring leader board for the Crusaders, tallying 17 points on 10 goals and 7 assists, while Will Spangenberg (Sr / A) has amassed 12 points on 8 goals and 4 assists. The team's extra-man sharpshooter is Jayce Lambert (Jr / A), who has tallied 3 of the Crusaders' 7 man-up goals this season.
• Dawson Friers (So) has started all 6 games in which he has played. He owns a 49.0 save percentage and a 17.11 goals-against average.
• Chris Conlin (Sr / D) has been solid on defense where he leads the team with 15 caused turnovers and stands 11th nationally with a 2.14 average. He has also grabbed the second-most ground balls on the team with 196.
• Connor DePiero (So) has taken the bulk of the draws for the Crusaders this season, winning 47.4 percent (82-173) of the faceoffs he has taken. Five additional players have combined for the remaining 24 draws (5-24). DePiero is pacing the squad with 31 ground balls.
• Holy Cross has scored 7 goals on 19 extra-man (36.8) opportunities, while its man-down unit has warded off 11 of the 19 (57.9) opportunities by the opponent.
Navy vs. Holy Cross - The Series
• Saturday's contest marks the 18th meeting between Navy and Holy Cross in a series the Mids hold a comfortable 14-3 lead.
• This will be the first time the two teams have met since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 season was shut down just 8 days prior to when the two programs were to meet. Last year they were scheduled to play, however a Yard-wide shutdown at the Academy forced the Patriot League to reshuffle its scheduling and the Navy-Holy Cross game would not be played.
• Navy and Holy Cross have played one another 6 times in Worcester, Mass. (2005, '09, '11, '15, '17, '19) and 8 times in Annapolis (2004, '06, '10, '12, '14, '16 '17, '18).
• Meanwhile, Navy and Holy Cross have met on neutral ground 3 times.
• In 2007, the two programs faced one another at SMU's Ford Stadium where the Mids dealt Holy Cross a 12-2 loss. It was Navy's first trip to Texas since the Mids defeated Johns Hopkins, 9-6, on May 8, 1971, at the Houston Astrodome.
• In 2008, Navy and Holy Cross were part of the Ford Patriot Cup which featured two high school games, along with two Div. I men's lax games (Rutgers vs. Army). Navy scored a 16-3 win over the Crusaders at Texas Stadium, the former home of the Dallas Cowboys.
• In 2013, Holy Cross earned its first victory over the Midshipmen, securing a 7-5 victory in a game that was played at Citi Field, the home of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. It was just the second Div. I men's lacrosse game played at a Major League Baseball venue.
• The Crusaders defeated the fourth-seeded Mids (11-7) in the 2017 Patriot League Quarterfinals in what was Holy Cross' second appearance in the tournament.
• Navy has scored 8 or more goals in 13 of the 17 contests, while putting up double-figure goals 10 times (8 in 2005 and 2011, 7 in 2015, 7 in 2017 PLT, 5 in 2018, 9 in 2019). The Mids' defense has held Holy Cross to five or fewer goals in 11 of the 17 games.
