ANNAPOLIS, Md. // A stifling Navy defense held defending Patriot League Champion Boston University (7-2, 4-1 Patriot League) to its lowest goal output of the season, while
Max Hewitt (M / Jr / Denver, Colo.),
Tommy Hovivian (A / Jr / Dallas, Texas) and
Henry Tolker (A / So / Catonsville, Md.) all pitched hat tricks to lead the Navy men's lacrosse team (5-6, 2-2 Patriot League) to a 10-8 victory over the 17th-ranked Terriers Friday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The win snapped BU's seven-game winning streak that dated back to a 16-15 overtime victory at Bryant on Feb. 18.
"Great game ... really, really fun lacrosse game," said fourth-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "BU is an excellent lacrosse team. I thought perhaps they were the best team we have seen play on film all year truthfully. We had to play great to win tonight. We knew that. We had to tilt the faceoff x our way which we did, Anthony and the wings did a great job; Pat had to play his best game in the goal, I thought he did; defensively it had to be our best effort, I thought it was; and offensively we had to play like a team, I thought we did. We looked like the team that I've seen glimpses of in some of the losses that I thought we had.
"This was my most enjoyable win (since I've been here). There's no doubt about it. This is what teams are about. This is why we do what we do. This is why you sign up to be on a team when you're a kid, for moments like this. For every kid who gets an opportunity, they get their moment and step up and they do it for the team. That's what we saw tonight."
Navy, who has not only fought injuries throughout the last month but has also struggled to piece together a complete 60-minute performance, made a statement in its win over BU. A year ago, the Terriers dominated Navy in nearly every statistical category en route to a 17-9 victory over the Mids in Boston. On Friday evening, Navy flipped the script, as the Mids were solid in all facets of the game.
One might argue the contest revolved around the faceoff game where Navy's
Anthony Ghobriel (So / Dallas, Texas) won 66.7 percent of the draws against one of the nation's elite faceoff specialists, Conor Calderone. A year ago, BU won 22 of the 30 draws (73.3) against the Mids with Calderone successful on 19 of the 26 (73.1) faceoffs he took. The faceoff dominance made it nearly impossible for the Mids to possess the ball on offense which was evident not only in the final score, but also the Terriers' 49-29 shooting advantage.
On Friday night, Ghobriel set the tone by winning 6 of the 9 first-half faceoffs and dominated the fourth quarter by winning 7 of the 8 draws, putting the ball in the offensive players' sticks.
"I would say that Anthony has to to be remarked as probably one of the better faceoff guys in our league because he's gone against two of the best faceoff guys in the country in Sisselberger (Lehigh) and Calderone. He's done very well. The thing that I'm most proud about him is that in the fourth quarter, that was going to determine the game, the faceoff x. We were 7 of 8 in the fourth quarter. That's a remarkable stat against a kid who has played in huge moments his entire career and he's done it against the best people. Anthony won those most important faceoffs. I'm really proud of him."
Navy and BU would each take the lead once in the opening quarter before the Mids' defense turned up the intensity and held the Terriers scoreless for of 23 minutes. Meanwhile, Navy scored back-to-back goals just 35 seconds apart to take a 4-2 lead at 10:20 in the second quarter, a lead it would not relinquish. Rookie
Paul Garza, who has seen action in 4 games including each of the last 3, broke the 2-2 tie by sending a low sidewinder past All-Patriot League goalkeeper Matt Garber. Navy won the ensuing faceoff and
Jack Flaherty (M / Fr / Massapequa, N.Y.) made the perfect pass to Hovivian who cut in from the left side of the cage and targeted his shot from the doorstep.
BU, however, cut the deficit to one heading into the locker room after Thomas Niedringhaus (A / Sr) backed his way down to beat Ryan from 8 yards out. The goal with 1:05 left in the first half was the Terriers' first since Niedringhaus' goal at the 9:35 mark in the opening quarter.
Hovivian scored his second goal of the evening after Hewitt drew the double team and left Hovivian wide open on the crease less than 2 minutes into the third quarter. Hewitt recorded his second hat trick in as many games when he dodged his defender from the left wing to give Navy its largest lead of the game at 6-3 with 5:06 to go in the quarter.
The Terriers took advantage of two missteps by the Mids in the closing minutes of the quarter, first when Navy's defense dropped down to double on the right crease, leaving Louis Perfetto (A / Sr) open for the easy goal. Navy was then flagged for a one-minute unreleaseable penalty for a blow to the head and Timmy Ley would trim the Mids' lead to one (6-5) going into the final frame.
After Hewitt and Hovivian held court in the first three quarters, Tolker took over for the Mids where he scored 3 of the final 4 goals to help Navy secure the win. His goal to open the fourth quarter (13:43) will go down in Naval Academy lore as one of the most incredible goals in program history. Tolker, who was handcuffed by a swarming BU defense, tracked down the loose ball and twirled through the traffic before launching the no-look shot over his shoulder and into the back of the net.
BU cut the lead to one three times (7-6, 8-7, 9-8) in the final stanza, including with 1:16 left in the contest. After Ghobriel claimed the final faceoff, Navy called a timeout with 58 seconds to go. Amplo elected to put the ball in
Sam Dracobly's (M / Sr / Seattle, Wash.) stick, a veteran member of the Mids' team. Dracobly, who stands 5-7, outran, outmuscled and outwitted his opponents and found Tolker for the final score with 37.1 seconds left in the contest.
Hewitt led the way for the Mids with 4 points on 3 goals and an assist, while Hovivian and Tolker finished with 3 goals and Dracobly dealt out 3 assists. Defensively, Ryan made 11 saves, while co-captain
Kyle Fairbanks (D / Sr / Potomac, Md.) recorded 3 of Navy's 7 caused turnovers. Fairbanks is now the third active player on the Mids' all-time career caused turnovers list, as he stands tied for 20th with 19-career takeaways.
BU, who entered the game eighth in the nation in goals per game (14.75), was held to its fewest goals since dropping a 12-5 decision to Princeton last year in the NCAA Tournament. Vince D'Alto, who was defended by Navy All-American defenseman
Jackson Bonitz (Jr / Shrewsbury, Pa.), was held without a goal for just the third time in his career and first this season (Ohio State 2020, Princeton 2022). BU's leading scorer in each of his four seasons, D'Alto came into the game ranked #6 in points per game (5.25), #12 in goals per game (3.25) and #17 in assists per game (2.00) and finished with just an assists on 12 shots.
Louis Perfectto (2-1), Ley (3-0) and and Niedringhaus (2-1) led the way for the Terriers on offense, while Garber was stout between the pipes where he made 18 saves.
The Midshipmen will be back on CBS Sports Network (Brent Stover, Evan Washburn) next Friday night when they make the short trip to Baltimore to battle #14 Loyola (5-3, 2-1 Patriot League). Faceoff is slated for 7:00 pm at Ridley Athletic Complex. Additionally, WNAV 1430 AM / 99.9 FM will carry the game live with Pete Medhurst and
Joe Miller on the call.
### Go Navy ###
