Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game (Villanova): A pair of games are on tap this week for Navy (3-5, 0-2 Patriot League), as the Mids continue nonconference action on Tuesday in what will be the inaugural meeting between the Mids and seventh-ranked Villanova (6-1, 0-0 BIG EAST). Faceoff is set for 4:00 pm at Villanova Stadium. Joe Amplo owns a 21-16 record in his four years at the helm of the Navy program, while the Wildcats are under the direction of Mike Corrado who is in his 17th year (133-105).
• Follow the Action: The Navy-Villanova game will be streamed on FloSports (subscription based) and will also be carried live on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV with Pete Medhurst. Radio coverage begins at 3:45 pm with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show. Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.)
• Inside the Game (Holy Cross): The Mids will return to Patriot League play on Saturday when they make the trek to Worcester, Mass. to square off against Holy Cross (0-8, 0-3 Patriot League). Game time is slated for 12:00 pm at Kuzniewski Field. The Crusaders are led by third-year head coach and Naval Academy graduate J.L. Reppert.
• Follow the Action: The Navy-Holy Cross game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription based) Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.) There will be no radio coverage for Saturday's game.

Navy Quick Hits
• A Call to Serve: Navy's two opposing head coaches this week both have military backgrounds. Villanova's Mike Corrado, a 1987 graduate of Villanova, served 4 years in the United States Navy where he was based out of Norfolk, Va. He is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War and retired as a Commander from the Naval Reserves. Meanwhile, Holy Cross head coach J.L. Reppert is a 1999 graduate of the Naval Academy where he was a four-year letter winner 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.
• Back-to-Back Top-10 Opponents: Navy will play its second-consecutive game against a top-10 team when it battles #7 Villanova on Tuesday afternoon. The Mids dropped a hard-fought 12-9 game to #9 Johns Hopkins last Friday at home. This will be the first time Navy has played back-to-back top-10 programs since 2017 when the Mids opened the year with losses to #8 Johns Hopkins (15-8) and #2 Maryland (15-12).
• First Time Foes: One of the oldest programs in the sport's history, Navy is in its 116th season and has played 50 of the other 74 Division I programs. Navy added Queens to the list earlier this season (Feb. 5) when the two met at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Villanova will be the 51st team when the two square off on Tuesday. Navy has not played are Albany, Bellarmine, Binghamton, Bryant, Cleveland State, Denver, Hampton, Lindenwood, LIU, Marquette, UMass-Lowell, Merrimack, Michigan, Monmouth, NJIT, Notre Dame, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Siena, St. Bonaventure, St. John's, Utah and Wagner.
• Poll Busters: Navy owns a 162-207 all-time record against teams ranked in the top 25. Navy's last win over a ranked team was on April 23, 2022, when the Mids defeated Army 12-11 in overtime. The Mids are 14-15 against teams who have been ranked #7 at the time of the contest and have lost six in a row. The last time Navy played a seventh-ranked team was on March 30, 2012, a game the Mids dropped by a 9-4 count to league rival Lehigh. Navy's last win over the #7 team was against North Carolina (9-6) on March 5, 2005, when the Mids were ranked #4.

Scouting Villanova
• Veteran coach Mike Corrado has his seventh-ranked Villanova Wildcats firing on all cylinders, as they have amassed a 6-1 record and are riding a 5-game winning streak heading into Tuesday's game with the Midshipmen.
• Villanova owns wins over Penn State (14-12), Delaware (13-12), Hofstra (15-8), Drexel (14-7), Penn (9-8) and Monmouth (10-6). The one-goal win over Delaware kicked off the current winning streak by the Wildcats. Meanwhile, their only loss to date was a 20-14 decision on Feb. 19 against then-#5 Yale.
• Tuesday's contest will be Villanova's first true home game since Feb. 19. The Wildcats played their first-two games at home and have played each of their last 5 either on the road or at a neutral site (Drexel).
• The Wildcats are averaging 12.71 goals per game (ranked #25), reaching double-figure goals in all but 1 game (Penn) this season. Meanwhile, the defense is holding its opponents to just 10.43 goals per game (ranked #16). Villanova's last 4 foes were held to single digits, averaging 7.25 goals during that timespan.
• Two-Time All-American Matt Campbell (Gr / M) leads the Wildcats with 28 points on 19 goals and 9 assists. He is ranked 38th nationally in points per game (4.00) and 36th in goals per game (2.71). Patrick Daly (Gr / A) owns 24 points on a team-best 21 goals and 3 assists. He stands 18th in goals per game (3.00). Austen Fraser (Gr / M) rounds out the 20-point Wildcat scorers with 22 points on 10 goals and a team-high 12 assists. He is ranked 38th in assists per game (1.71)
• Two-time All-BIG EAST performer and fifth-year starter Will Vitton (Gr) leads the team between the pipes where he has played all but 4:30 this season. He owns a 10.40 goals-against average (ranked #13) and a 52.0 save percentage (ranked #27). He's made 587 saves, while allowing 565 goals over his career.
• As a team, Villanova is ranked eighth nationally in caused turnovers per game (10.29). Reid Colwell (Jr / D) leads the team with 14 caused turnovers, averaging 2.00 per game (ranked #7), and has 21 ground balls, while Brody LaPorte (Gr / D) and Trip Robinson (So / D) have 8 takeaways apiece.
• Justin Coppola (Sr) has taken 175 of the 183 draws for Villanova this spring. He owns a 54.9 winning percentage (96-175) and leads the team in ground balls with 56. He is 37th in faceoff winning percentage and 14th in ground balls per game (8.00).

Navy vs. Villanova - The Series
• Tuesday's contest marks the first meeting between the two programs.

Scouting Holy Cross
• Taking over the head coaching duties in the midst of COVID, J.L. Reppert is in his third season directing the Holy Cross program. Holy Cross enters the weekend with a 0-8 record, including a 0-3 mark in Patriot League action. The Crusaders have losses to Providence (12-9), Merrimack (14-9), Syracuse (15-6), Mercer (15-6), Dartmouth (17-6), Army (13-6), Lehigh (18-11) and Boston U. (23-9).
• Holy Cross has been outscored 127-62 in its 8 games this season and are ranked 71st in scoring offense (7.75) and 72nd in scoring defense (15.88). Breaking it down into quarters, the opponent has outscored Holy Cross 35-18 in the first quarter, 33-11 in the second, 32-15 in the third and 27-18 in the fourth.
• Thomas McIntire (Sr / A) is atop the scoring leader board for the Crusaders and is responsible for a third of the team's points and goals. He owns 31 points on a team-best 23 goals and 8 assists. Dean DiNanno (Sr / A) has 14 points on 8 goals and 6 assists, while three other players - Cameron Magalotti (Sr / M), Matt Major (Jr / A) and Tyler Marmo (Fr / A) have 6 points apiece.
• Goalkeeper Dawson Friers (Jr) has started all 8 contests and owns a 16.51 goals-against average and a 50.6 save percentage.
• Connor DePiero (Jr) and Jordan Naso (Fr) have taken the bulk of the draws for Holy Cross with DiPiero winning 45 of the 109 faceoffs (41.3) he has taken, while Naso is 35 of 92 (38.0). Naso's older brother, Jake, is an All-American faceoff specialist at Duke. DePiero is pacing the squad with 22 ground balls, while Naso and Hayes Reding (Sr / D) have the second most with 20.

Navy vs. Holy Cross - The Series
• Saturday's contest marks the 19th meeting between Navy and Holy Cross in a series the Mids hold a comfortable 15-3 lead.
• Navy and Holy Cross have played one another 6 times in Worcester, Mass. (2005, '09, '11, '15, '17, '19) and 9 times in Annapolis (2004, '06, '10, '12, '14, '16 '17, '18, '22).
• 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 14 of the 18 contests, while putting up double-figure goals 11 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 18 games.