ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's lacrosse team (5-2, 0-0) is set to host No. 19 Jacksonville (4-3) on Thursday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium before opening Patriot League play on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. against Bucknell (4-2, 0-0) at Graham Field at Holmes Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa.
 
Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Behind a school-record eight goals by freshman Ava Yovino (Parkland, Fla.), Navy overcame an early deficit to record a 16-8 victory over Mount St. Mary's at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium last week to improve to 5-2 overall on the season. The Midshipmen trailed 3-0 through the first quarter, but outscored the Mountaineers, 16-5, in the final three quarters to earn the win.
 
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 101 goals with 50 assists, while picking up 116 ground balls, winning 108 draw controls, and causing 58 turnovers.
 
Entering the week, Yovino leads the NCAA in assists (29), assists per game (4.14), points (47), and points per game (6.71). In addition, the freshman has a team-high 18 goals with 20 draw controls, six ground balls, and four caused turnovers to her credit.
 
Yovino is joined atop the Navy leaderboard by Emily Messinese (Manchester, Md.), who is second on the team with 23 points. The sophomore has 17 goals, while adding six assists with three hat tricks.
 
Maggie DeFabio (Summit, N.J.), Lola Leone (Bay Shore, N.Y.), Charlotte Ryan (Tully, N.Y.), and Leelee Denton (Nashville, Tenn.) round out Navy's double-digit point scorers. DeFabio has 16 points on 14 goals and a pair of assists, while Leone has 13 goals and a helper for 14 total points. Ryan and Denton have 13 points apiece. Ryan has 12 goals and an assist, while Denton has notched nine goals with four helpers.
 
Defensively, Emma Richardell (Bethesda, Md.) has logged nearly 418 minutes between the pipes for the Midshipmen. The sophomore goalkeeper has notched 43 saves with 15 ground balls and four caused turnovers. The sophomore registered her first double-digit save performance against No. 18 Richmond, finishing with 10 stops against the Spiders. Athena Corroon (Greenwich, Conn.) leads the team with 21 ground balls, followed by Grace Peterson (Mound, Minn.) and Richardell who have picked up 16 and 15 GB, respectively. Corroon leads the team with 10 caused turnovers, while Erin Carson (New Albany, Ohio) and Peterson follow with eight and seven.
 
Additionally, Maura Murphy (Woodbine, Md.) leads the team with 29 draw controls, while Messinese (27) and Yovino (20) have each won 20 or more draws this season.
 
All-Time Series
JACKSONVILLE: The game between Navy and Jacksonville will mark the second meeting between the two teams with the Midshipmen claiming a 13-12 victory in overtime in the previous game back in 2013.
 
In the only meeting between the two teams, senior attacker Jasmine DePompeo ('13) scored the game-winning goal in the sudden-victory second overtime as No. 14 Navy downed Jacksonville, 13-12, on Senior Day at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
 
The Mids overcame an 11-7 second-half deficit with a 5-0 run before Jacksonville scored the final goal of regulation to force overtime. After a scoreless period-and-a-half of overtime, Navy sophomore midfielder Lindsay Rheiner ('15) controlled the draw to start the second three-minute stanza of double overtime. Sophomore attacker Loren Generi ('15) received the ball and sent DePompeo on a curl around the back of the cage and the senior co-captain scored with 2:24 remaining to give Navy its 15th win of the season.
 
BUCKNELL: The Midshipmen and Bison meet for the 15th time in school history on Saturday. The Mids hold a 14-0 advantage in the series, including a 6-0 mark in Lewisburg. The game will be the Patriot League opener for both Navy and Bucknell.
 
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.
 
Last season, the No. 17 Midshipmen posted a 15-3 victory over Bucknell at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Midshipmen opened the game with a 9-0 run and never looked back en route to the 12-goal victory.
 
Scouting the Opposition
JACKSONVILLE: The Dolphins enter the week with a 4-3 record on the season. JU started the year with three straight losses, falling to No. 17 Michigan (L, 14-10), No. 8 Rutgers (L, 9-7), and Army (L, 12-10). Jacksonville has since rebounded with four straight wins, defeating No. 15 Stanford (W, 12-10), Arizona State (W, 10-9), UMass Lowell (W, 16-4), and No. 21 Penn (W, 12-11).
 
All seven of Jacksonville's games have been at home and Thursday's contest will mark the first road game of the season for the Dolphins.
 
Sarah Elms and Grace Hobson lead the Dolphins. Elms boasts a team-best 29 points on a team-high 25 goals with four assists. Hobson has also topped the 20-point plateau, entering the game with 21 points on five goals and a team-high 16 assists. Lauren Craft is third on the team with 11 points (8g 3a) to round out JU's double-digit performers.
 
Addy Tysdal has started all seven games at goal for Jacksonville, logging just under 279 minutes in the cage. She has a team-high 49 saves with a 48.0 save percentage and an 11.41 goals against average. Paige Pagano has played in four games with 112 minutes to her credit, notching 15 saves compared to 16 goals allowed.
 
BUCKNELL: The Bison enter the week with a 4-2 overall record. After opening the season with back-to-back losses against Penn State (L, 16-6) and UMBC (L, 12-10), Bucknell comes into conference play with four straight wins – Marist (W, 17-12), Robert Morris (W, 15-8), St. Bonaventure (W, 22-6), and Mount St. Mary's (W, 11-8).
 
Prior to the season, Bucknell was picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League in a vote cast by the conference's coaches and sports information directors.
 
The Bison are led by Taylor McClain, Allie Boyce, Emily Baird, and Alex Nesbitt. McClain leads the team with 25 points on five goals and a team-best 20 assists, while Boyce leads the squad with 16 goals with three helpers for 19 points. Baird (10g 3a) and Nesbitt (6g 6a) round out the Bison's double-digit point scorers with 13 and 12, respectively.
 
Symone Ryans has seen a majority of time at goal for Bucknell. She has played and started all six games, logging just over 330 of the team's 360 minutes of action. Ryans has 47 saves with a 44.8 save percentage and a 10.51 goals against average.
 
Yovino Tabbed Patriot League Rookie of the Week
The Patriot League announced its weekly women's lacrosse award winners and Navy freshman Ava Yovino (Parkland, Fla.) was tabbed PL Rookie of the Week for her efforts in the Mids' 16-8 victory over Mount St. Mary's. It is the second-consecutive Rookie of the Week accolade for Yovino and the third of the season for the freshman.
 
Yovino led Navy to a 16-8 victory at home over Mount St. Mary's, finishing the game with eight goals and two assists for 10 total points. The eight goals tied the rookie for the most goals scored in a game in program history, while the 10 points tied for the fifth-best performance in the Navy annals. The eight-goal performance was the sixth in school history and Yovino became the fourth Midshipmen to accomplish the feat, joining Julia Collins (2x), Loren Generi (2x), and Danielle Vivonetto in the Navy record book. In addition, she led the team with five draw controls, while also picking up a pair of ground balls.
 
Navy Sports Magazine – Grace Peterson
Navy women's lacrosse sophomore defender Grace Peterson (Mound, Minn.) sat down with the Voice of Navy Athletics Pete Medhurst for this week's Navy Sports Magazine. WATCH
 
Up Next
Following the games this weekend, Navy travels to Bethlehem, Pa. for a Patriot League match up against Lehigh at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Opening draw is slated for 12:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.