Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game: One of the most storied rivalries in college athletics will take center stage this Saturday in Annapolis when Navy (7-6, 4-2 Patriot League) plays host to #9 Army (9-2, 6-0 Patriot League) in the series' 103rd meeting. Faceoff is set for 1:00 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Joe Amplo owns a 25-17 record in his four years at the helm of the Navy program, while the Black Knights are under the direction of Joe Alberici who is in his 18th year (157-106). Saturday's contest is part of the year-long Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA. The Mids, who own a 14-7 record in Star Games this season, have now won the Star Series 25 times in the last 27 years.
• Follow the Action: Saturday's contest will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Chris Lewis and Evan Washburn calling the action. Additionally, the game will be carried live on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV and 1500 AM WFED with Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller on the call. Radio coverage begins at 6:45 pm with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show. Live stats will also be available on NavyStats.com(.)

The View from Above
• 2005 Navy lacrosse captain Seth DiNola will be part of Saturday's flyover featuring two Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawks from the "Jaguars" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron SIX ZERO based out of Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.
• The Jaguars provide anti-submarine, anti-surface and airborne use of force capabilities in defense of our nation's interests.
• The pilots and aircrew will be recognized at the break between the third and fourth quarters.
• Pilots and aircrew flying the helicopters include Cmdr. Seth "Sweaty" DiNola, Class of 2005; Lt. Cmdr. Ross "Bummer" Thomas, Class of 2007; Lt. Cmdr. Rich "Oscar" Grant, Class of 2009; Lt. Cmdr. Taylor "Slinglet" Toombs, Class of 2010; AWR2 Brandon Goins and AWR2 Stephen Gage. Also representing the Jaguars are Lt. Cmdr. Ron "Junior" Burris, USNA Class of 2004; Lt. Cmdr. Jon "Berky" Berkowitz, Class of 2010; AT2 Daniel Hurst and AM2 Jorden Ennis.  
• DiNola was a three-year letterwinner (2003-04-05) for the Midshipmen, who began his career as a goalkeeper before moving to long-stick midfielder his junior year. He was part of Navy's first-two Patriot League Championship teams in 2004 and '05 and was also a member of two NCAA Tournament teams (2004, '05). The 2004 team won a program-record 15 games that included wins over Colgate (15-5) and Hobart (9-8) to win the Patriot League Championship in what was Navy's first season as a member of the league. The Mids went on to defeat #13 Penn (11-5), #7 Cornell (6-5) and #8 Princeton (8-7) in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Syracuse by a goal (14-13) in the National Championship Game. DiNola was 5-0 against Army all-time, including 4-0 in Star Games.

Navy Quick Hits
• Senior Salute: Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk, Superintendent Sean Buck and head coach Joe Amplo will honor Navy's 11 senior lacrosse players - Phil Arnold, Dom Cole, Jack Dennehy, Sam Dracobly, co-captain Kyle Fairbanks, James Flannery, Nate Hammond, Henry Rentz, Pat Ryan, co-captain Patrick Skalniak and Zach Snider - and 1 senior student coach - Brian Calabrese - prior to the start of Saturday's contest.
• Honoring Those Who Came Before Us: In addition to wearing a special uniform for Saturday night's game, Navy players will wear a unit patch of their choosing honoring the service branches of the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force. See page 5 for a breakdown of who is wearing what patch and why.
• Tourney Talk: Four schools - Army (6-0), Boston U. (5-1), Lehigh (5-1) and Navy (4-2) - have already clinched a spot in the six-team Patriot League Tournament set to begin May 2 with the quarterfinals. Loyola (3-3), Bucknell (2-4), Lafayette (2-5) and Colgate (1-5) are vying for the final two spots in the tourney. Holy Cross (0-7) is out of the mix. This weekend's games include Bucknell at Lafayette on Friday night (7:30 pm), Lehigh at Boston U. (12:00 pm), Colgate at Loyola (12:00 pm) and Army at Navy (7:00 pm) on Saturday.
• Hewitt Among Program's Elite Midfielders: Last year's starting midfield trio was one for the record books, as Patrick Skalniak (Sr / 28-20=48), Dane Swanson (Jr / 21-17=38) and Max Hewitt (Jr / 20-12=32) all finished the season with at least 30 points. It marked the first time in program history that 3 midfielders reached the 30-point milestone in the same season. Hewitt once again etched his name in the record books when, behind his 4-point (3G, 1A) effort at Loyola (4.7), he reached the 30-point milestone for a second time. Hewitt, Navy's leading scorer this spring (22-9=31), is only the eighth midfielder in school history to score 30 points multiple times in a career - Max Hewitt (2022-23), Greyson Torain (2017-18-19), Ryan Wade (2018-19), Graham Gill (2004-05), Jamie Slough (1992-93-94), Brian Keith (1989-90), Glen Miles (1984-86) and Mike Chanenchuk (1977-78-79).

Army vs. Navy — The Rivalry
All-Time Army-Navy Record: Navy Leads, 1161-870-44 (57.0)

2022-23 Overall Record vs. Army: 20-12 (62.5)
2022-23 Star Game Record vs. Army: 14-7 (66.7)
• Navy has already secured the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA. Navy has now won the Star Series 25 times in the last 27 years.

2022-23 Star Game Victories Over Army
• Sprint Football
• M Cross Country
• W Cross Country
• W Swimming & Diving    
• Rifle    
• M Indoor Track & Field    
• W Indoor Track & Field    
• Gymnastics
• M Basketball
• Wrestling
• W Tennis
• M Outdoor Track & Field
• W Outdoor Track & Field
• M Tennis

Remaining Star Games
• Saturday's Army-Navy men's lacrosse game is one of three remaining Star competitions for the 2022-23 season, and all three will be played this weekend. Baseball and men's lacrosse will be held in Annapolis, while West Point will serve as the host of the women's lacrosse game.
• Saturday / 12:00, 3:30 pm / Baseball / Annapolis / ESPN+
• Saturday / 2:30 pm / W Lacrosse / West Point / ESPN+
• Saturday / 7:00 pm / M Lacrosse / Annapolis / CBS SN
• Sunday / 12:00 pm / Baseball / Annapolis / CBS SN

Scouting Army
• In his 18th season directing the Army lacrosse program,  Joe Alberici has led the Black Knights to a 9-2 record this spring, including a 6-0 mark in the Patriot League. Army has a pair of wins over top-20 programs, defeating then-#8 Rutgers 14-13 and #9 Loyola 10-5. The Black Knights saw their amazing nine-game winning streak come to an end last weekend when Aiden Blake's goal with 9 seconds remaining lifted #6 Cornell to an 11-10 victory at West Point.
• The Black Knights are ranked among the nation's top 20 in 7 statistical categories - #2 scoring defense (8.27), #4 faceoff winning % (61.9), #5 opponent clearing % (79.3), #7 scoring margin (+4.64), #11 extra-man offense (48.6), #14 man-down defense (71.0) and #14 ground balls per game (34.45).
• Army is scoring at a 12.91 goals per game clip which stands 27th in the nation and #3 in the Patriot League. Three different players have reached the 30-point milestone for the Black Knights, including Reese Burke (Jr / M) who is ranked #44 in the country in points per game (3.73), #36 in assists per game (1.73) and #80 in goals per game (2.00). He has 41 points on 22 goals and 19 assists this spring.
• Evan Plunkett (Fr / M) has 35 points (15-20) and Paul Johnson (Jr / A) has 30 points (19-11), while Jacob Morin (Jr / M) is on the cusp with 29 points (25-4).
• Knox Dent (Sr) leads the defense between the pipes, taking over duties from All-Patriot League keeper Wyatt Schupler. Dent, who missed the Bucknell and Colgate games due to injury, returned last week against Cornell. He stands third nationally in goals-against average (8.65), #32 in save percentage (51.4) and #65 in saves per game (8.22).
• A hallmark of the Academy teams, Army's defense is once again stingy, allowing just 8.27 goals per game (#2). The Black Knights have allowed just 4 of their 11 opponents to reach double-digit goals - UMass (L, 10-8), #8 Rutgers (W, 14-13), Lehigh (W, 12-10), Cornell (L, 11-10).
• Army has one of the top faceoff specialists in the country in Will Coletti (So). The second-year player has won 155 of the 251 draws he has taken this season and stands 10th nationally (61.8). Coletti also ranks #4 nationally in ground balls per game, grabbing 9.45 per contest.
• Army's "special teams" units have also been solid this spring with both the man-down and extra-man units ranking #2 in the Patriot League. The extra-man unit has scored 17 goals on 35 attempts (48.6) with Jacob Morin (Jr / M) leading the way with 6 man-up goals. Meanwhile, the man-down squad has squelched 22 of the opponents' 31 extra-man opportunities (71.0).

Army vs. Navy - The Series
• Navy owns a 63-36-3 series advantage and has won 20 of the last 30 contests in the series, including 6 of the last 9.
• The Mids also own a 58-33-3 advantage in Star Games, winning 17 of the last 24 including 6 of the last 7.
• The Mids lead the series in Annapolis, 31-18-1, including the last meeting in 2021 (9-4).  
• Army and Navy have met twice in a season on seven previous occasions. In 1978 and '81, the two also met in the NCAA Tournament. The two have met in the Patriot League Tournament in 2005, '06, '07, '10, '15 and '16.
• Navy has scored eight or more goals in 28 of the last 35 contests against Army. However, the Mids have reached double figures just 5 times in the last 17 meetings. Navy has held Army to single digits in 15 of the 24 games since joining the league in 2004.  
• The 2021 Army-Navy game was a welcomed return to a series that had seen the two programs meet for 87-consecutive years, the longest continuous lacrosse series between Navy and another team. In March of 2020, the world as we knew it would be put on pause and for the first time since 1932, there would not be an Army-Navy lacrosse game.
• The series returned in 2021 with the Mids scoring a 9-4 win  in Annapolis in what was Navy head coach Joe Amplo's first game in the storied rivalry.
• Last year's game was a thriller at West Point. Senior co-captain Jack Sweeney cashed in on his lone appearance of the game, as the extra-man sniper scored the game-winning goal 58 seconds into overtime to lead Navy to a 12-11 victory over #6 Army at Michie Stadium. Army was the highest-ranked opponent Navy had defeated since beating #3 Yale 13-10 in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

The Sport's Most Historic Rivalries
• With one of the most storied programs in the sport of lacrosse, Navy has traditionally played 3 rivalry games that stand among the nation's longest.
• Army and Navy have met 102 times, marking the seventh-longest rivalry in college lacrosse. The 103rd meeting between the two is set for Saturday at 7:00 pm.
• Also appearing on the list of longest rivalries are the Navy vs. Maryland and Navy vs. Johns Hopkins series. The Mids have played Maryland 94 times, which is the 13th-longest rivalry. The two programs, however, have not met since 2019.
• The Navy-Johns Hopkins series runs 92 games, which is 14th on the list. After a two-year hiatus due to scheduling and another two due to the pandemic, the Mids and Blue Jays rekindled their rivalry in March of 2022 in Baltimore. Navy scored an historic victory (11-10), defeating Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field for the first time since 1969.
• Cornell vs. Hobart is the longest-running series in college lacrosse with the two teams meeting 140 times.

Our Nation's Future Leaders
• Navy's Class of 2023 has put together a 25-17 (59.5) record, including a 14-8 (63.6) mark in Patriot League action.
• Additionally, the senior class has posted a 2-0 record against Army in the annual Star Game. The 2020 game was canceled due to the pandemic.
• This group of seniors saw its rookie season end abruptly when the pandemic hit in mid-March 2020. Navy played just 5 games that season and followed up with a modified schedule in 2021 as schools continue to navigate through COVID protocols. Last season, 2022, marked the first year of their collegiate experience in which they were able to play an entire season.
• Navy's seniors will graduate on May 26 and be commissioned Ensigns in the Navy or 2nd Lieutenants in the Marine Corps. Graduates serve a minimum of 5 years in the Navy or Marine Corps, while pilots serve 8 years upon earning their wings.  
• Navy received its service assignments on Nov. 17, 2022.

Navy's Senior Lacrosse Players
Phil Arnold - Marine Corps Ground
Dom Cole - Navy Pilot
Jack Dennehy - Surface Warfare Officer / USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) / San Diego, Calif.
Sam Dracobly - Marine Corps Ground
Kyle Fairbanks - Marine Corps Ground
James Flannery - Naval Officer
Navy Hammond - Navy Pilot
Henry Rentz - Surface Warfare Officer / Cryptologic Warfare / USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) / Yokosuka, Japan
Pat Ryan - Naval Officer
Patrick Skalniak - Navy Pilot
Zach Snider - Navy Pilot

Sale of the Century X Set for Saturday
• The Naval Academy Athletic Association will conduct Sale of the Century X on Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.  
• The sale will run from 2:00-8:00 pm in conjunction with the Army-Navy men's lacrosse game slated for 7:00 pm. A game ticket will be required to enter the stadium starting at 5:30 pm and there will be a $10 charge to park.
• The NAAA will be selling training shoes, cleats, helmets, game jerseys, game balls, shorts, t-shirts, hats, travel bags and a wide variety of other team apparel.  
• Cash and credit cards will be accepted and there will be a $5 convenience fee for all sales.