ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 24 Navy women's lacrosse team (9-2, 3-0 Patriot League) is set for its second consecutive game at home as the Midshipmen play host to Patriot League opponent Colgate (2-7, 1-2 Patriot League) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy enters the week 9-2 overall and 3-0 in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen have won seven consecutive games, including all four home contests this season. As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 167 goals with 78 assists, while picking up 182 ground balls, winning 170 draw controls, and causing 102 turnovers. In three Patriot League games, the Mids have scored 53 goals with 19 assists with 53 ground balls, 50 draw controls, and 37 caused turnovers.
 
Entering the week, junior Leelee Denton (Nashville, Tenn.) leads the NCAA in shot percentage. Following four games where she converted 19 of 21 shots, Denton has upped her percentage to .778. In addition, freshman Ava Yovino (Parkland, Fla.) is first nationally in assists (40), while ranking second in assists per game (3.64), points (67), and points per game (6.09).
 
Yovino's 67 points and 40 assists lead the team, while her 27 goals are tied with Emily Messinese (Manchester, Md.) for the second most on the squad. Messinese adds eight assists for 35 total points. Denton is third on the team with 32 points, adding four helpers to her team-best 28 scores. Denton is the team's active leader with 13 career hat tricks, including a team-high six in 2023.
 
Maggie DeFabio (Summit, N.J.), Charlotte Ryan (Tully, N.Y.), Lola Leone (Bay Shore, N.Y.), Tori DiCarlo (Rosemont, Pa.), and Lindsay Beardmore (Annapolis, Md.) round out Navy's double-digit point scorers. DeFabio has 19 goals and four assists for 23 points, while Ryan has 20 points on 17 scores and three helpers. One point back is Leone (19) who boasts 18 goals and an assist. DiCarlo (16 points) has notched 12 goals with four helpers while Beardmore (11) has a balanced seven scores and four assists.
 
Defensively, Emma Richardell (Bethesda, Md.) has logged 645 minutes between the pipes for the Midshipmen. The sophomore goalkeeper has notched 78 saves with 22 ground balls and five caused turnovers.
 
Athena Corroon (Greenwich, Conn.) leads the team with 28 ground balls, followed by Grace Peterson (Mound, Minn.) and Richardell who have picked up 23 and 22 GB, respectively. Corroon leads the team with 14 caused turnovers, while Erin Carson (New Albany, Ohio) and Yovino follow with 13 and 11. Peterson and Katie Golbranson (Newport Beach, Calif.) are approaching double-digit caused turnovers with nine CTs each.
 
Additionally, Messinese leads the team with 39 draw controls, while Alyssa Daley (Walkersville, Md.), Maura Murphy (Woodbine, Md.), and Yovino have each won more than 20 draws this season. Daley has 34 draws, while Murphy and Yovino have 29 apiece.
 
All-Time Series
The game marks the 19th meeting between the two teams and the seventh competition in Annapolis. Navy holds a 14-4 (.778) overall record against Colgate, including a 5-1 mark at home. The Midshipmen have won seven in a row against the Raiders and 14 of the last 15 meetings.
 
The last time the two teams met, Navy used a stellar defensive performance to post a 12-5 road victory against Colgate at Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium in Hamilton, N.Y.
 
Last time the two teams met in Annapolis, Navy posted a 12-5 victory in 2021. The game served as the Midshipmen's Senior Day. All 11 senior players from the Class of 2021 were able to enter the game, combining for eight points on seven goals and one assist with 11 ground balls, seven caused turnovers, two draw controls, and a pair of saves.
 
Scouting the Opposition
The Raiders enter the week with a 2-7 overall record, including a 1-2 mark in the Patriot League. After dropping a pair of conference contests to Boston University (L, 11-8) and Army (L, 12-8) to start league play, Colgate posted a 16-13 victory at home over Bucknell for the Raiders' first Patriot League win of 2023.
 
Colgate is led by Kyra Lucey, Caroline Panzirer, and Kait Henning. The trio has 20 or more points each. Lucey has nine goals with a team-high 17 assists for a team-best 26 points. Panzirer is three points back with 23 on a team-high 21 goals with a pair of helpers. Henning rounds out the top three with 14 scores and seven assists for 21 points.
 
At goal, Helena Morrison has played and started all nine games between the pipes for Colgate. The junior has logged over 483 of the team's 540 minutes at goal, leading the team with 69 saves with a 37.3 save percentage with a 14.39 goals against average. In addition, Morrison is second on the team in ground balls with 17, behind team-leader Nelle Kniffin who has 18.
 
National Recognition for Ava Yovino
It was announced this week that freshman Ava Yovino (Parkland, Fla.) was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, while also being tabbed a third-team Inside Lacrosse Midseason Division I All-American. Yovino became the sixth Midshipmen in program history to be named to the Tewaaraton Watch List, joining Erin Rawlick (2010), Jasmine DePompeo (2012, '13), Jenna Collins (2018), Kelly Larkin (2018, '19, '20), and Nicole Victory (2021).
 
Navy Up One Spot in ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Poll
The Navy women's lacrosse team moved up to No. 24 in the latest ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Poll. In addition, the Mids are ranked No. 19 according to US Lacrosse Magazine. The Midshipmen, who are currently on a six-game winning streak, entered the IWLCA poll last week at No. 25.
 
In its history, Navy has been ranked 72 total weeks, including a stretch of 46 weeks from the final poll of 2017 (May 30) to April 5, 2021. The Mids' first appearance in the national rankings came on March 11, 2013, coming in at No. 20. The Midshipmen's highest ranking – sixth – came in the final polls of the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Last season, the Midshipmen were in the top 25 poll for seven weeks, rising as high as No. 17.
 
Richardell, Yovino Combine to Earn Three Patriot League Weekly Honors
Navy goalie Emma Richardell (Bethesda, Md.) and midfielder Ava Yovino (Parkland, Fla.) combined to claim three of the five weekly Patriot League women's lacrosse honors, as announced by the conference office. Richardell was named Goalkeeper of the Week, while Yovino earned Midfielder and Rookie of the Week distinction. The duo helped lead Navy to a 15-4 road victory over Lehigh on Saturday.
 
For Richardell, it was the first Goalie of the Week honor of her career, while it was Yovino's first Midfielder of the Week accolade and her fourth Rookie of the Week award.
 
Richardell anchored Navy's defense, which held Lehigh to its lowest point total of the season, while allowing the fewest goals by an opponent this year. The sophomore tied a career-high with 11 saves, while causing a turnover and picking up a pair of ground balls in just over 57 minutes of action. Aided by six second-half saves by Richardell, the Midshipmen did not allow a goal in the second half, marking the first time since defeating George Washington (W, 22-2) in 2021 that the defense held an opponent scoreless in a half. All total, Richardell and the Navy defense held Lehigh to no goals over the final 39 minutes and 22 seconds and limited the Mountain Hawks' offense to just four total goals.
 
Yovino led the team with six total points on a team-best three assists while adding three goals. She had an assist on Lola Leone's go-ahead goal in the first quarter that gave the Mids a lead they would not surrender. The rookie added a helper on Tori DiCarlo's goal to close out the first quarter, while notching an assist on what proved to be the game-winning goal by Leelee Denton. Yovino scored her first goal of the game in the second quarter, while adding her second and third goals in the third quarter as part of Navy's 6-0 run in the period to take command of the game. In addition, Yovino registered a team-best two caused turnovers with a pair of draw controls and a ground ball.
 
Up Next
Following Saturday's game, Navy continues Patriot League play on the road against Boston on Saturday, April 8 at 12:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.