ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 24 Navy women's lacrosse team (13-2, 7-0 Patriot League) hosts Army (10-5, 5-2) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the annual Star Game. The game, which will be aired on CBS Sports Network, is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.
All-Time Series
The game marks the seventh meeting between the two teams and the fourth time the two teams will meet for the Star. Navy holds a 6-0 (1.000) overall record against Army with a 2-0 mark at home. The Mids are 3-0 in Star Games against the Black Knights (the first Star Game was played in 2018).
The Midshipmen are 22-5 in all competitions against the Black Knights this year and 18-2 in the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.
Navy and American have met on the lacrosse field at least once every season since 2016 with the exception of 2020 when the conference season was canceled due to COVID.
Last season, Navy had a three-week ROM (restriction of movement) with no games or practice prior to taking on Army in West Point. Despite a slow start, the Mids rallied for the final three goals of the game to post a 13-12 victory. Then freshman
Jo Torres (Prince Frederick, Md.) entered the game at goal at halftime and held the Black Knights to just five goals, while registering 10 saves in just 30 minutes of action.
Navy has outscored Army, 43-15, in two games played in Annapolis. The Mids claimed the first of the two meetings, 22-7, in 2017, before posting a 21-8 win in 2019.
Senior captain
Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) set the Navy school record with 18 draw controls against the Black Knights in 2019 as the two teams met in the semifinals of the Patriot League Championship (Navy W, 20-10). Two of Roelofs' 15 double-digit draw control performances have come against Army.
Scouting the Midshipmen
The No. 24 Midshipmen enter the weekend 13-2 on the season, including a 7-0 mark in Patriot League play. Navy posted a 16-10 victory over American on Wednesday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Offensively, Navy has tallied 285 points on 208 goals and 77 assists in 15 games. Of the 18 players who have scored points, 10 have been upperclassmen (juniors / seniors) and eight have been underclassmen (freshmen / sophomores). Through 15 games, the upperclassmen have registered 125 goals, accounting for 60.1% of the goals scored, while the underclassmen have tallied 83 scores. The upperclassmen have accounted for 61.8% of the total points scored with 66.2% of the team's assists.
The Mids are led by
Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.),
Leelee Denton (Nashville, Tenn.),
Kasey Dietzel (Warrington, Pa.),
Gil Eby (Towson, Md.),
Charlotte Ryan (Tully, N.Y.), and
Lindsay Beardmore (Annapolis, Md.).
Roelofs paces the offense with a team-high 50 points on a team-best 36 goals and team-high 14 assists. Denton and Dietzel are next with 35 points with Denton chipping in 29 goals and six assist and Dietzel registering 22 goals and 13 helpers. Eby (27g 6a) and Ryan (24g 7a) round out the top-five with 33 and 31 points, respectively. Beardmore (16g 12a) completes the 20-point scorers 28 points.
The Mids have picked up 306 ground balls, won 230 draw controls, caused 119 turnovers, and tallied 131 saves.
Christine Fiore (Darian, Conn.) has grabbed a team-high 33 ground balls, while
Grace Loughery (Perkasie, Pa.) added 30 GBs. Eby and
Alexis Bell (Johns Creek, Ga.) have tallied 29 and 27 ground balls, respectively. Roelofs leads the team with 87 draw controls, while Dietzel is second with 62. Bell, Loughery, Fiore, and
Erin Carson (New Albany, Ohio) lead the team with 19, 17, 14, and 13 caused turnovers.
Jo Torres (Prince Frederick, Md.) leads the team with 118 of Navy's 131 saves in 824 and a half minutes of action. Torres has earned 12 victories with a 52.0 save percentage and 7.93 goals against average. She is joined by
Emma Richardell (Bethesda, Md.) who has 13 stops in 71-plus minutes of action.
Scouting the Opponent
Army enters the weekend 10-5 overall with a 5-2 mark in the Patriot League. The Black Knights have lost their last three games, including Patriot League contests against Bucknell (L, 18-12) and #6 Loyola (L, 16-7).
Offensively, Army is led by Kathleen Sullivan and Julia Gorajek. The duo has amassed 66 and 60 points, respectively. Sullivan has 39 goals to go along with a team-high 27 assists, while Gorajek leads the way with 44 goals while adding 16 helpers. Jolie Riedell (42) and Carleigh Armstrong (40) have also notched 40 or more scores.
In goal, Lacey Bartholomay has played a lion-share of the minutes in cage. She has tallied 736 minutes with 111 saves and 155 goals allowed for a .417 save percentage and 12.63 goals against average.
National Rankings
The ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Poll was officially announced on Monday morning and the Navy women's lacrosse team remained ranked in the national poll. The Mids enter the week ranked No. 24. The Mids have been ranked seven consecutive weeks this season. In its history, Navy has been ranked 70 total weeks, including a streak of 47 consecutive weeks from the final poll of the 2017 season (May 30, 2017) to April 12, 2021. In addition, the Mids are receiving votes according to the US Lacrosse rankings.
Last Time Out: #24 Navy 16, American 10 (April 20, 2022)
No. 24 Navy registered a 16-10 victory over American (8-6, 3-3 PL) on Wednesday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to remain unbeaten in Patriot League play.
Offensively, the Midshipmen tallied 16 goals on 40 shots. Seven different Mids scored goals in the game with five athletes registering multiple goals, including three hat tricks. Freshman
Tori DiCarlo (Rosemont, Pa.) led the team with a career-high four goals, marking her first collegiate hat trick.
Lindsay Beardmore (Annapolis, Md.) and
Leelee Denton (Nashville, Tenn.) finished with three goals apiece. For Beardmore, it was the sophomore's first collegiate hat trick.
Kasey Dietzel (Warrington, Pa.) and
Gil Eby (Towson, Md.) chipped in a pair of scores each, while
Christine Fiore (Darien, Conn.) and
Bobbie Haney (Woodbine, Md.) added one goal apiece.
The Mids won 18 of 28 draws on the night.
Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) and Dietzel paced the team with five draws apiece, while
Caroline Stefans (Coral Springs, Fla.) added a pair.
Defensively, Navy held American to 10 goals on 22 shots, while recording nine saves with 23 ground balls. The Mids' backline caused 13 of the Eagles' 19 turnovers.
Jo Torres (Prince Frederick, Md.) finished the game with nine saves and a ground ball with eight goals allowed in 57 and a half minutes of work.
Emma Richardell (Bethesda, Md.) closed out the final two and a half minutes allowing two goals.
Alexis Bell (Johns Creek, Ga.) led the team with a career high four caused turnovers, while
Grace Loughery (Perkasie, Pa.) paced the squad with four ground balls, adding two CT. Fiore added three ground balls with a pair of caused turnovers, while Haney picked up three ground balls.
