ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 23 Navy women's lacrosse team (12-3, 6-1 Patriot League) travels to West Point, N.Y. to take on No. 16 Army (12-2, 6-1 Patriot League) on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Michie Stadium in the annual Star Game. The game, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
All-Time Series
The game marks the ninth meeting between the two teams and the fifth time the two teams will meet for the Star. Navy holds a 7-1 (.875) overall record against Army with a 3-0 mark in West Point. The Mids are 3-1 in Star Games against the Black Knights (the first Star Game was played in 2018).
Both Navy and Army enter the game ranked in the ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Top 25 Poll, marking the first time that both teams have met on the women's lacrosse field as ranked opponents.
The Midshipmen and Black Knights have each clinched a berth in the Patriot League Championship and a top-three seed. In addition to claiming the Star, the winner of the Army-Navy game would secure a top-two seed and a quarterfinal bye in the upcoming conference tournament.
Navy is 5-0 against Army in games played away from Annapolis. The Mids are 3-0 in West Point and 2-0 against the Black Knights at the Ridley Athletics Complex in Baltimore (Patriot League Tournament).
Last time the Mids played in West Point, Navy had a three-week ROM (restriction of movement) with no games or practice prior to taking on Army. Despite a slow start, the Mids rallied for the final three goals of the game to post a 13-12 victory.
As an athletics department, the Midshipmen are 20-12 in all competitions against the Black Knights this year and 14-7 in the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy enters the week 12-3 overall and 6-1 in the Patriot League. As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 232 goals with 107 assists, while picking up 264 ground balls, winning 234 draw controls, and causing 149 turnovers. In Patriot League games, the Mids have scored 118 goals with 48 assists with 135 ground balls, 114 draw controls, and 84 caused turnovers.
Entering the week,
Ava Yovino (Parkland, Fla.) ranks in the top five in the NCAA for her performance on the field. Yovino is third nationally in points (82), while ranking fourth in assists (46) and assists per game (3.07) and fifth in points per game (5.47).
Yovino leads the team with 82 points with a team-best 46 assists while adding 36 goals. She is joined atop the Navy leaderboard by
Emily Messinese (Manchester, Md.) who leads the squad with 38 goals, while adding nine helpers for 47 points.
Leelee Denton (Nashville, Tenn.) is third on the team with 40 points on 35 goals and five helpers.
Maggie DeFabio (Summit, N.J.) sits four points back of Denton with 36 total points on 28 goals and eight assists. Denton and Yovino pace the team with seven hat tricks apiece this season, while DeFabio and Messinese add six each. Denton is the team's active leader with 14 career hat tricks.
Charlotte Ryan (Tully, N.Y.),
Lola Leone (Bay Shore, N.Y.),
Tori DiCarlo (Rosemont, Pa.),
Lindsay Beardmore (Annapolis, Md.), and
Isabelle Thornburg (Alexandria, Va.) round out Navy's double-digit point scorers. Ryan has 21 goals and nine assists for 30 points, while Leone has 25 points on 24 scores and a helper. Two points back is DiCarlo (23) who has notched 19 goals with four helpers, while Beardmore (11g 6a) and Thornburg (4g 7a) close out the double-digit point performances with 17 and 11, respectively.
Defensively,
Emma Richardell (Bethesda, Md.) has logged over 875 minutes between the pipes for the Midshipmen. The sophomore goalkeeper has notched 99 saves with 31 ground balls and seven caused turnovers.
Athena Corroon (Greenwich, Conn.) leads the team with 36 ground balls, followed by
Grace Peterson (Mound, Minn.) and Richardell who have picked up 33 and 31 GBs. Corroon leads the team with 22 caused turnovers, while Yovino follows with 15.
Erin Carson (New Albany, Ohio) has caused 14 turnovers, with
Katie Golbranson (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Peterson have caused 13 and 11 turnovers, respectively.
Gabby Lavin (Gambrills, Md.) and Messinese have registered 10 caused turnovers each.
Additionally,
Alyssa Daley (Walkersville, Md.) leads the team with 55 draw controls, while Messinese is second with 48 DC, while Yovino has 40.
Scouting the Opposition
The Black Knights enter the weekend with a 12-2 overall record, including a 6-1 mark in the Patriot League. Army enters the game after dropping two of its last three contests. The Black Knights fell to No. 13 Yale (L, 14-13) and No. 11 Loyola (L, 19-5), while defeating Bucknell (W, 15-7).
Army is led by Brigid Duffy and Kathleen Sullivan. The duo has 66 points apiece with Duffy boasting a team-high 47 goals with 19 assists and Sullivan notching 28 scores with a team-high 38 helpers. Julia Franzoni leads Army with 85 draw controls, while Duffy has 61 and Jolie Riedell has 40.
At goal, Lacey Bartholomay has played in all 14 games, making 13 starts. She has a team-high 91 saves in 535 minutes of action, while Lindsey Serafine has 37 saves in nearly 245 minutes. Serafine has played in 10 games with a start on the season.
Navy Holds Steady at No. 23 in ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Poll
The Navy women's lacrosse team remains ranked in the latest ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Poll, coming in at No. 23 for the second consecutive week. In addition, the Mids are also receiving votes according to US Lacrosse Magazine.
In its history, Navy has been ranked 75 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.
Corroon Tabbed Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week
Senior defensive team captain
Athena Corroon (Greenwich, Conn.) was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week by the conference office announced on Monday afternoon. The accolade was the fourth of the season for Corroon.
Corroon anchored Navy's defense in a pair of victories over the week, defeating American (W, 17-8) and Holy Cross (W, 22-9). She led the Midshipmen with six caused turnovers, while adding three ground balls. Additionally, the defensive captain netted a pair of goals and added an assist for three points on the week. Corroon and the defense helped with the transition game, holding Navy's opponents to just 28-of-45 (.622) in clears, while helping the Mids to 36 clears, including 12-of-13 against American.
Up Next
Following the game, Navy closes out the regular season at home against No. 10 Loyola. The game is slated for 6:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.
