ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Senior Jillian Wilson scored five goals, while graduate student Livy Rosenzweig scored once and handed out five assists to lead No. 7 Loyola (18-1) to a 15-8 victory over Navy (15-5) in the Patriot League Championship game. The Patriot League title is Loyola's third-straight and the Greyhounds improve to 80-3 against Patriot League opponents since joining the league in 2014 (the three losses came against Navy in 2017 and 2018).

"This wasn't how we wanted our season to end but I'm over the moon that we got an opportunity to play this year after going through what we went through the last two years with COVID," said Navy head coach Cindy Timchal. "We fought to the very end against a team that has defined women's lacrosse in our conference the last few years."

"It just didn't work out for us today," said Navy senior co-captain Reagan Roelofs.  "We are hoping for an at-large bid, that would be awesome.  It would stink to end our career this way."

Loyola jumped out to a 7-1 lead on the Mids, scoring six-straight after a Kasey Dietzel goal tied the game at one with 12:40 left in the first quarter.  That six-goal deficit in the first 17:30 was too much to overcome as Navy could get no closer than five the rest of the way.

"We felt like we had some opportunities to get back in the game, but the lacrosse goddesses were not in our favor today," said Timchal.

Senior Kasey Dietzel led Navy with three goals and one assist. Roelofs scored twice and grabbed seven draw controls while causing one turnover.  Junior Charlotte Ryan added two tallies, gobbled up two ground balls and came up with four draw controls. Gil Eby, Athena Corroon and Erin Carson led the Navy defense with two caused turnovers each, while Carson led the team with four ground balls.

"These seniors went through a lot," said Timchal.  "They played a full season as freshmen, basically nothing in 2020 and an abbreviated season in 2021. The type of season we had this year is a tribute to the seniors and the dedication they have for Navy women's lacrosse. They came out every day and worked hard and led this team."

The Mids did make Loyola sweat late in the second half, going on 4-1 and 5-2 runs to cut the lead to five at 12-7 with 3:49 left in the third and 13-8 with 6:20 remaining in the contest.  Unfortunately for Navy, Ryan's goal at 6:20 that cut the lead to five was the final goal of the game for the Mids.

"I was proud of our tenacity to get back in the game," said Roelofs.  "We showed heart and toughness fighting back, especially in these conditions. I love this team and I think we fought hard all the way to the end."

"I wouldn't trade anything in the world for my four years playing Navy Women's Lacrosse," said Dietzel.  "I love my teammates, I love my coaches, I just have so much love for Navy Women's Lacrosse.  If this is our final game, I can't wait to see what next year's team is going to do."

Navy will now wait for tomorrow's NCAA Selection Show (9:00 PM on ESPNU) to see if they gain an at-large bid.  The Mids started today with an RPI of #30 and a Top 20 win over Johns Hopkins.  Navy played six games against teams that played in their conference championship game beating Northeast Conference Champion Mount St. Mary's, beating Drexel, who plays in the CAA Championship on Sunday, and losing to Atlantic-10 Champion St. Joseph's (by 1), Big East runner-up Georgetown (by 1) and twice to Patriot League Champion Loyola.

Lacrosse Magazine's latest bracketology had the final four teams in as Michigan (RPI #19), Stanford (RPI #29), UConn (RPI #14) and Johns Hopkins (RPI #15, but no Top 20 wins and lost to Navy head-to-head).

"We are a first-class organization and I do believe if we got a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament we would do, as we did in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the nation and the women's lacrosse community proud," said Timchal.  "Our seniors don't get a fifth or sixth year like everybody else, they get four years, and I would love for them to get another opportunity to play before going out and serving our country in the Navy and Marine Corps."

"We would rise to the challenge if we got in the tournament," said Roelofs.  "We have shown throughout the year by beating other ranked teams that Navy is ready to fight no matter the opponent."