Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game: One of the most storied rivalries in college athletics will take center stage this Saturday at Michie Stadium (12:00 pm) when #6 Army (10-2, 5-1 Patriot League) and Navy (7-5, 3-3 Patriot League) battle one another in the series' 102nd meeting. The Mids are led by Joe Amplo, who owns a 16-10 record in three seasons at the helm of the Navy program, while Joe Alberici has posted a 146-102 record in 17 seasons as the Black Knights' head coach.
• Follow the Action: Saturday's contest will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Jason Knapp and Evan Washburn calling the action. Additionally, the game will be carried live on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV with Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller on the call. Radio coverage begins at 11:45 am with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show. Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.)

Game Day Storylines
• 26 Games and Counting: Navy's Patrick Skalniak (Jr / M) enters Saturday's contest at Army riding a 26-game point-scoring streak. Navy's leading scorer this season with 39 points (22-17), Skalniak has amassed 73 points on 39 goals and 34 assists during the streak which dates back to his first-collegiate game on Feb. 7, 2020 against Manhattan. Maryland's Logan Wisnauskas owns the nation's longest point-scoring streak at 68-consecutive games (every game of his career).
• 30-Point Midfielders: 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 on March 18. Skalniak is stands fifth on the Mids' single-season scoring chart by midfielders with a team-high 39 points (22-17). He is just 1 point shy of becoming only the fifth midfielder in school history to register 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 1 point to join Skalniak on the 30-point midfielder list. When Swanson breaks into the 30-point club, Skalniak and Swanson would become just the second set of midfielders to reach 30 points in a season in school history. Ryan Wade and Greyson Torain did it not once, but in back-to-back years (2018 Wade 33 pts, Torain 33 pts / 2019 Wade 48 pts, Torain 37 pts). It would not be out of the question for Max Hewitt (So) to join Skalniak and Swanson, as he currently owns 23 points (16-7). Navy has never had 3 midfielders score 30 points in a season.
• Tolker Eyes Freshman Top-10 Lists: Henry Tolker (Fr / A) is on the verge of joining the ranks of some of the best rookies in program history. A starter in 11 of the 12 games this season, he has amassed 25 points on 17 goals and 8 assists. Tolker needs 5 points to become only the 14th freshman in Navy history to reach 30 points. Meanwhile, he is 5 goals shy of reaching the top 10 in goals by a freshman and 2 assists shy of joining that list, as well.
• Tourney Talk: Four schools - Boston U. (6-0), Lehigh (5-1), Army (5-1), Loyola (4-2) - have already clinched a spot in the six-team Patriot League Tournament set to begin May 3 with the quarterfinals. Navy (3-3), Bucknell (2-4) and Colgate (2-4) are vying for the final two spots in the tourney with both Lafayette (1-6) and Holy Cross (0-6) out of the mix. Navy can clinch a berth this weekend with a win over Army OR a Colgate loss to Loyola.
• Ranked Foes: Army will be just the third ranked opponent Navy has faced this season. The Mids topped then-#18 Johns Hopkins 11-10 at Homewood Field on March 18. Two weeks later, Boston U., ranked 14th, dealt Navy a 17-9 loss. Army enters the weekend ranked #6 is the historic USILA Coaches Poll. It's the highest the Black Knights have been ranked at the time of the Star Game since 2005 when Army was #4 and the Mids were tied for #6. Navy won that game 12-9 in Annapolis. Since the USILA first began its poll in 1973, this will mark the 52nd time in 57 games that at least one of the two teams has been ranked at the time of the Star Game, the 39th time Army has been ranked and the 18th time Army has been ranked in the top 10.

The Army-Navy Rivalry
All-Time Army-Navy Record - Navy Leads, 1138-855-44 (56.9)
2021-22 Overall Record vs. Army    22-5 (81.5)
2021-22 Star Game Record vs. Army    18-2 (90.0)
• Navy not only has secured the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, it also has set the record for most Stars won in series history. The previous record was 17 set in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 2011-12 - all by Navy. Navy has now won the Star Series 24 times in the last 26 years.

2021-22 Star Game Victories Over Army
• M Golf  
• Sprint Football 
• M Soccer  
• W Soccer 
• M Cross Country    
• W Cross Country    
• M Swimming & Diving    
• W Swimming & Diving    
• Football    
• Rifle 
• Gymnastics
• M Indoor Track & Field
• W Indoor Track & Field
• M Basketball
• Wrestling
• W Tennis
• M Outdoor Track & Field
• W Outdoor Track & Field

Remaining Star Games
• Saturday's Army-Navy men's lacrosse game is one of four remaining Star competitions for the 2021-22 season, and all four will be played this weekend.
• Saturday / 12:00 pm / M Lacrosse / West Point / CBS SN
• Saturday / 1:00 pm / M Tennis / Annapolis
• Saturday / 2:30 pm / W Lacrosse / Annapolis / CBS SN
• Saturday / 1:00, 3:30 pm / Baseball / West Point / ESPN+
• Sunday / 1:00 pm / Baseball / West Point / ESPN+

Scouting Army
• In his 17th season directing the Army lacrosse program,  Joe Alberici has guided the the Black Knights to a 10-2 record this spring, including a 5-1 mark in the Patriot League. Army has a pair of wins over top-20 programs, defeating then-#14 Syracuse 17-3 and #4 Cornell 17-10. The Black Knights enter the weekend riding a four-game winning streak with wins over Loyola (14-12), Bucknell (10-9), Colgate (13-11) and Cornell (17-10).
• Army is averaging 14.58 goals per game which stands 10th in the nation and #1 in the Patriot League. Four different players have already reached the 30-point milestone for the Black Knights, including All-American Brendan Nichtern (Sr / A) who is ranked #2 in the country in points per game (6.00), #2 in assists per game (3.50) and #47 in goals per game (2.50). He has 72 points on 30 goals and 42 assists this spring. He is Army's recordholder for career points (255) and assists (150), and stands 13th on the goals list (105). Nichtern has produced a point in 46 of the 49 games in which he has played (Penn 2019 / Loyola 2021 / Navy 2021). After Navy held Nichtern scoreless in last year's Star Game, he has recorded a point in 14-consecutive games.
• Reese Burek (Jr / M) has 32 points (19-13), while Bobby Abshire (Sr / M) and Paul Johnson (Jr / A) have 30 points apiece.
• Wyatt Schupler (Sr) directs the defense between the pipes. The All-Patriot League keeper stands 17th nationally in goals-against average (10.51), 12th in save percentage (55.9) and 23rd in saves per game (12.58).
• As a team, Army stands 19th in scoring defense (10.50). The Black Knights have allowed 9 of their 12 opponents to reach double-digit goals, holding only NJIT (18-4), Holy Cross (14-8) and Bucknell (10-9) to single digits.
• Army has one of the top faceoff specialists in the country in Will Coletti who is just a freshman. Coletti has won 135 of the 235 draws he has taken this season and stands 14th nationally (57.4). Coletti also ranks 27th nationally in ground balls per game, grabbing 6.08 per contest.
• Army's "special teams" units have also been solid this spring with both the extra-man and man-down teams ranking #1 in the league. The extra-man unit has scored 17 goals on 36 attempts (47.2) with Jacob Morin (Jr / M) leading the league with 6 man-up goals. Meanwhile, the man-down squad has squelched 29 of the opponents' 42 extra-man opportunities (69.0).

Navy vs. Army - The Series
• Last year's Army-Navy game was a welcomed return to a series that had seen the two programs meet for 87-consecutive years, the longest continuous lacrosse series between Navy and another team. In March of 2020, the world as we knew it would be put on pause and for the first time since 1932, there would not be an Army-Navy lacrosse game.
• The series returned in 2021 with the Mids scoring a 9-4 win  in Annapolis in what was Navy head coach Joe Amplo's first game in the storied rivalry.
• Navy owns a 62-36-3 series advantage and has won 19 of the last 29 contests in the series, including 5 of the last 8.
• The Mids also own a 57-33-3 advantage in Star Games, winning 16 of the last 23 including 5 of the last 6.
• The Mids lead the series at West Point, 29-17-2, including wins in each of the last 2 Star Games played at Michie Stadium (2018, '16).  
• Army and Navy have met twice in a season on seven previous occasions. In 1978 and '81, the two also met in the NCAA Tournament. The two have met in the Patriot League Tournament in 2005, '06, '07, '10, '15 and '16.
• Navy has scored eight or more goals in 27 of the last 34 contests against Army. However, the Mids have scored double figures just 4 times in the last 16 meetings. Navy has held Army to single digits in 15 of the 23 games since joining the league in 2004.  

The Sport's Most Historic Rivalries
• With one of the most storied programs in the sport of lacrosse, Navy has traditionally played 3 rivalry games that stand among the nation's longest.
• Army and Navy have met 101 times, marking the seventh-longest rivalry in college lacrosse. The two will play for the 102nd time on April 23 at West Point.
• Also appearing on the list of longest rivalries are the Navy vs. Maryland and Navy vs. Johns Hopkins series. The Mids have played Maryland 94 times, which is tied as the 11th-longest rivalry. The two programs, however, have not met since 2019.
• The Navy-Johns Hopkins series runs 91 games, which is 14th on the list. After a two-year hiatus due to scheduling and another two due to the pandemic, the Mids and Blue Jays rekindled their rivalry on March 26 in Baltimore. Navy scored an historic victory (11-10), defeating Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field for the first time since 1969.
• Cornell vs. Hobart is the longest-running series in college lacrosse with the two teams meeting 139 times.

Army and Navy Among Sport's Winningest Programs
• One of seven Div. I lacrosse programs that has produced 700+ wins, Navy became just the fourth to reach 800 when it defeated UMBC on Feb. 15, 2019.  
• With 820 wins, Navy is the fifth-winningest program in D-I men's lacrosse history behind Johns Hopkins (1,003), Syracuse (928), Maryland (865) and Army (822). Johns Hopkins became the first men's lacrosse team to reach 1,000 wins, capturing that milestone mark on Feb. 19 in an 11-10 win over Loyola.
• Navy rekindled its longtime series with Johns Hopkins this season after four years without playing one another. Scheduling (2018, '19) and COVID (2020, '21)  played roles in the absence. The two programs have met 91 times in a series that began in 1908. Navy captured an historic win over the Blue Jays on March 18, beating Johns Hopkins (11-10) on its home field for the first time since 1969.

On This Date
• Navy owns a 7-4 all-time record in games played on April 23, however, it has dropped each of the last two contests
• This will be Navy's first game played on April 23 since 2011 when second-ranked Johns Hopkins defeated the Mids 14-5 in Baltimore.
• This will be Navy's first Patriot League contest played on April 23 - all of the previous contests were against nonconference foes.