ANNAPOLIS, Md. // Despite the Navy men's lacrosse team (7-7, 4-3 Patriot League) holding ninth-ranked Army (10-2, 7-0 Patriot League) to just 2 goals over the final 30 minutes of action, it would be too little too late as the Black Knights earned an 11-6 victory over the Midshipmen Saturday afternoon in the annual Star Game played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.

Army held a three-goal advantage after the opening quarter and extended its lead to 7 at the half, as the Black Knights remain unbeaten in the Patriot League with one week remaining in the regular season.

"Congrats to Army and Joe and his staff, they did a great job of preparing their guys," said fourth-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "Right from the start, they played a lot faster and a lot harder than we did. That first half did not feel like an Army-Navy game for us. There was something missing for us and that's extremely disappointing. I'm proud of the guys that they came out and fought in the second half, but it just wasn't enough."

The Black Knights opened the game with a faceoff win by specialist Will Coletti (So), who raced down the field and fired off a shot that was turned aside by Navy goalkeeper Pat Ryan (Sr / Groton, Mass.). Army responded by targeting its next 3 shots to take a 3-0 lead 4 minutes into the contest.

The Mids finally got on the scoreboard when Dane Swanson (M / Jr / St. Mary's City, Md.), who missed 7 games due to a foot injury, punched in his first goal since Feb. 25 against High Point with a 15-yarder with 4:32 remaining in the opening quarter.

Army scored the final goal of the first frame when Evan Plunkett (M / Fr) ducked under Navy defender AJ Hernandez (D / Fr / Dayton, Md.) and scored on a 5-yard shot to give the Black Knights a 4-1 lead.

Plunkett scored his second goal of the day to open the second quarter, but a spectacular no-look, over-the-shoulder goal by Navy's Xavier Arline (A / Jr / Wading River, N.Y.) two minutes later trimmed the Black Knights' lead to 3 once again.

Army's Reese Burek (A / Jr), however, answered just 33 seconds later and sparked a 4-0 run by the Black Knights to close the half and take a 9-2 lead into the break.

Navy came out of the locker room and scored 3 in a row, getting goals from Jack Flaherty (M / Fr / Massapequa, N.Y.), Henry Tolker (A / So / Catonsville, Md.) and Arline to cut into Army's lead (9-5). After being held without a goal for the first 11-plus minutes of the second half, Army received a timely goal from Burek, the team's leading scorer, at the 3:05 mark in the third frame.

The Mids took advantage of an unsettled situation where Mac Haley (A / Fr / Shady Side, Md.) corraled a loose ball behind the Army cage and found Max Hewitt (M / Jr / Denver, Colo.) for the 10-yard goal to once again trim the Black Knights' lead to 4 (10-6) with 9:34 remaining in the contest. That, however, would be the closest Navy could get as the Mids were unable to find the back of the net the rest of the way, while Army tacked on a Bailey O'Connor goal to secure an 11-6 victory.

Burek paced Army with 5 points on a team-best 4 goals and an assist, while O'Connor and Plunkett contributed 2 goals each. AJ Pilate (D / So) anchored a smothering defensive unit that held the Mids scoreless for the first 10 minutes of the game and final 11 minutes of the second quarter. The All-Patriot League standout led the team with 3 caused turnovers and had 4 ground balls, while netminder Knox Dent made 10 saves and allowed all 6 Navy goals. After 6 of the 13 draws in the opening half, Coletti went on to dominate in the second half, winning 6 of the 8 faceoffs. He also grabbed a game-high 8 ground balls.

Arline, who made just his second appearance in the last 6 contests due to injury, scored a pair of goals, while 7 other players finished the game with either a goal or an assist for the Mids. Ryan finished with 15 saves and allowed 11 goals, while All-American defenseman Jackson Bonitz (Jr / Shrewsbury, Pa.) recorded 3 caused turnovers and grabbed 3 ground balls.

Prior to the game, Navy celebrated Senior Day by honoring its 11 senior players and a senior student coach - Phil Arnold (D / Williston Park, N.Y. / Marine Corps Ground), Brian Calabrese (student coach / Surface Warfare), Dom Cole (M / Ashburn, Va. / Navy Pilot), Jack Dennehy (M / Acworth, Ga. / Surface Warfare), Sam Dracobly (M / Seattle, Wash. / Marine Corps Ground), co-captain Kyle Fairbanks (D / Potomac, Md. / Marine Corps Ground), James Flannery (SM / Garrett Park, Md. / Naval Officer), Nate Hammond (FO / Lincoln University, Pa. / Navy Pilot), Henry Rentz (DM / Edgewater, Md. / Surface Warfare / Cryptologic Warfare), Pat Ryan (GK / Groton, Mass. / Naval Officer), co-captain Patrick Skalniak (M / Dallas, Texas / Navy Pilot) and Zach Snider (LSM / Drexel Hill, Pa. / Navy Pilot).

Navy will play its final regular-season game of the year on Friday evening when the Mids travel to Lewisburg, Pa. to battle Bucknell (3-8, 2-5 Patriot League). Faceoff is slated for 7:30 pm at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium with Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller calling the action on ESPN+ and 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV. The game will also be streamed on ESPN+.

Meanwhile, the Patriot League Tournament is set to begin with the quarterfinals on May 2. While the 6 teams who have qualified for the tournament have been identified - Army, Boston U., Lehigh, Navy, Loyola and Lafayette - the seeding still remains up in the air. Only Lafayette (#6) knows its seed going into the regular-season finale, all of which will be played on Friday evening.  

Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Championship Schedule
Quarterfinal Round - Tuesday, May 2 | Hosted by higher seed
No. 6 Seed at No. 3 Seed | ESPN+
No. 5 Seed at No. 4 Seed | ESPN+
 
Semifinal Round - Friday, May 5 | Hosted by No. 1 Seed
Lowest-remaining seed at No. 1 Seed | CBS Sports Network at 4 pm
Highest-remaining seed vs. No. 2 Seed | CBS Sports Network at pm

Championship Game - Sunday, May 7 | Hosted by No. 1 Seed
Lowest-remaining seed vs. Highest-remaining seed | Noon | CBS Sports Network at 12 noon

Patriot League Standings
1. Army: 7-0 (Boston)
2. Boston U.: 6-1 (at Army)
3. Lehigh: 5-2 (Loyola)
4. Navy 4-3 (at Bucknell)
4. Loyola 4-3 (at Lehigh)
6. Lafayette: 3-5 (no remaining PL gms)
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7. Bucknell: 2-5 (Navy)
8. Colgate: 1-6 (Holy Cross)
9. Holy Cross: 0-7 (at Colgate)

• Navy has clinched a spot in the Patriot League Tournament
• The winner of the Army-Boston U. game will be the #1 seed and host in the Patriot League Tournament
• Navy needs a win over Bucknell or a loss by Loyola to clinch a home game in the Patriot League Quarterfinals
• Navy can get the #3 seed with a win over Bucknell and a Loyola win over Lehigh
Navy would be 5-3, Lehigh would be 5-3 and Loyola would be 5-3. All 3 teams would be 1-1 against each other
Navy beat Boston U. which would make it the #3 seed, Lehigh beat Navy which would make it the #4 seed and Loyola would be the #5 seed

Synopsis
Navy wins and Loyola wins, Navy is the #3 seed and hosts #6 Lafayette
Navy wins and Lehigh wins, Navy is the #4 seed and hosts #5 Loyola
Navy loses and Loyola wins, Navy is the #5 seed and plays at #4 Lehigh
Navy loses and Loyola loses, Navy is the #4 seed and hosts #5 Loyola

### Go Navy ###