ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 25 Navy women's lacrosse team (13-5) will take on No. 15 Army (14-2) in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament on Thursday evening at the Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore, Md. Opening draw between the No. 3-seeded Midshipmen and No. 2-seeded Black Knights is slated for 7:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
Patriot League Tournament
Navy is making its 15th appearance in the Patriot League Tournament. The Midshipmen have qualified for the conference tournament each season since joining the Patriot League in 2008. The Mids are 20-8 (.714) in the tournament all-time with six conference titles.
 
Following a 20-13 victory over Boston University in the quarterfinals, Navy continues the 2023 Patriot League Tournament at the Ridley Athletic Complex against Army. It is the third time the two teams will meet in the conference tournament. The two teams met in the 2019 and 2022 Patriot League Semifinals in Baltimore, Md. The Mids posted a 20-10 victory in the 2019 game, while notching a 16-6 win in 2022.
 
Navy is 11-2 (.846) all-time in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, winning its last six appearances in the semis. Navy played in 13 semifinal games, advancing to the final 11 times.
 
The winner of the Midshipmen and Black Knights advances to the championship game against the winner of No. 1 seed Loyola (15-2) and No. 4 seed Lehigh (12-5). Navy is 6-5 (.545) all-time in Patriot League championship games.
 
Navy is 8-5 (.615) all-time in the Patriot League Championship Tournament at the Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore.
 
All-Time Series
The game marks the 10th meeting between the two teams and the third time the two teams will meet in the Patriot League Tournament. Navy holds a 7-2 (.778) overall record against Army with a 2-0 mark in the conference tournament.
 
The two teams met in the 2019 and 2022 Patriot League Semifinals in Baltimore, Md. The Mids posted a 20-10 victory in the 2019 game, while notching a 16-6 win in 2022.
 
Navy is 5-1 (.833) against Army in games played away from Annapolis. The Mids are 3-1 in West Point and 2-0 against the Black Knights in Baltimore at the Ridley Athletics Complex.
 
Both Navy and Army enter the game ranked in the ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Top 25 Poll, marking the second time that both teams have met on the women's lacrosse field as ranked opponents. The two teams were both ranked when they met earlier in the season in the annual Star Game with the Black Knights earning a 15-11 decision.
 
As an athletics department, the Midshipmen are 20-18 in all competitions against the Black Knights this year and 14-10 in the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.
 
Four Tabbed All-Patriot League for Navy Women's Lacrosse
Four members of the Navy women's lacrosse team were named to the 2023 All-Patriot League Team announced Monday afternoon by the conference office. All four of Navy's all-league selections – Athena Corroon (Greenwich, Conn.), Leelee Denton (Nashville, Tenn.), Emily Messinese (Manchester, Md.), and Ava Yovino (Parkland, Fla.) – were named to the first team.
 
Overall, 36 student-athletes were selected to the two All-Patriot League teams with 19 voted onto the first team and 17 more earning a spot on the second team.
 
All 10 Patriot League teams were represented on the all-conference list. Loyola led the way with nine All-League selections, while Army and Lehigh added six apiece. Navy boasted four, while Boston University had three honorees. American, Bucknell, and Holy Cross each placed two on the All-League teams, while Colgate and Lafayette rounded out the teams with one apiece.
 
Fourteen (14) of the 36 All-Patriot League selections are multi-year honorees, however, all four of Navy's selections earned the honor for the first time in their Midshipmen career. The two All-Patriot League teams were comprised of 16 seniors, nine juniors, seven sophomores, and two freshmen, along with a pair of graduate students.
 
Ryan Selected to Academic All-Patriot League Team
Navy women's lacrosse senior Charlotte Ryan (Tully, N.Y.) was named to the 2023 Academic All-Patriot League team on Wednesday as announced by the conference office. With Ryan's selection, the Midshipmen have had at least one student-athlete selected to the All-Academic team each year there was a team since 2011 when the team was founded.
 
Ryan was one of 12 student-athletes voted to the list. Nine of the 10 schools were represented on the All-Academic team with Loyola leading the way with three honorees, including the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Majoring in mechanical engineering, Ryan is a six-time member of the Superintendent's List, while being named to the Commandant's List seven times. Ryan earned Patriot League Academic Honor Roll each season. The offensive team captain received submarines as her service assignment and upon commissioning at the end of the month, Ryan will continue her education in graduate school to earn her masters before reporting to Charleston, S.C. for Naval Nuclear Power Training Command
Nuclear Power School.
 
Ryan concluded the regular season with 23 goals, 10 assists, 33 points, 13 ground balls, 11 draw controls, and four caused turnovers. She scored at least one goal in 13 of 17 games on the season with seven multi-goal performances and a pair of hat tricks. In Patriot League play, Ryan registered at least one point in all nine conference games.
 
In the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals, the senior helped Navy to a 20-13 victory over Boston University to advance to the semifinals. Ryan finished the game three goals, including a free-position goal, while adding a ground ball in the win.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy enters the weekend 13-5 overall. As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 270 goals with 119 assists, while picking up 315 ground balls, winning 281 draw controls, and causing 170 turnovers.
 
Entering the week, Ava Yovino (Parkland, Fla.) ranks in the top 10 in the NCAA for her performance on the field. Yovino is third nationally in points (90), while ranking fourth in assists (49) and assists per game (2.72), and seventh in points per game (5.00).
 
Yovino leads the team with 90 points with a team-best 49 assists while adding 41 goals. She is joined atop the Navy leaderboard by Emily Messinese (Manchester, Md.) who leads the squad with 47 goals, while adding 11 helpers for 58 points. Leelee Denton (Nashville, Tenn.) is third on the team with 43 points on 38 goals and five helpers. Maggie DeFabio (Summit, N.J.) sits one points back of Denton with 42 total points on 31 goals and 11 assists. Messinese and Yovino pace the team with eight hat tricks apiece this season, while Denton and DeFabio have seven and six, respectively. Denton is the team's active leader with 14 career hat tricks.
 
Charlotte Ryan (Tully, N.Y.), Tori DiCarlo (Rosemont, Pa.), Lola Leone (Bay Shore, N.Y.), Lindsay Beardmore (Annapolis, Md.), and Isabelle Thornburg (Alexandria, Va.) round out Navy's double-digit point scorers. Ryan has 26 goals and 10 assists for 36 points, while DiCarlo (26g 4a) and Leone (29g 1a) have 30 points each. Beardmore (12g 7a) and Thornburg (4g 8a) close out the double-digit point performances with 19 and 12.
 
Defensively, Emma Richardell (Bethesda, Md.) has logged nearly 1,055 minutes between the pipes for the Midshipmen. The sophomore goalkeeper has notched 119 saves with 37 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers.
 
Athena Corroon (Greenwich, Conn.) leads the team with 43 ground balls, while Grace Peterson (Mound, Minn.) and Richardell follow with 37 GBs each. Corroon leads the team with 29 caused turnovers, while Yovino follows with 18. Erin Carson (New Albany, Ohio) and Katie Golbranson (Newport Beach, Calif.) have caused 15 turnovers apiece, with Gabby Lavin (Gambrills, Md.), Peterson, and Messinese have registering 12, 11, and 11 CTs, respectively.
 
Additionally, Alyssa Daley (Walkersville, Md.) leads the team with 71 draw controls, while Messinese is second with 60 DC and Yovino adds 50.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Army enters the Patriot League Tournament 14-2 overall. The Black Knights earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, earning a first-round bye.
 
Army had six student-athletes named All-Patriot League with four first team selections – Brigid Duffy, Kathleen Sullivan, Julia Franzoni, and Jolie Riedell – and two second-team honorees – Julia Gorajek and Cathleen Parker. Duffy was named Rookie of the Year, while head coach Michelle Tumolo was tabbed Coach of the Year. Additionally, the Black Knights had one representative – Malina Hatton – on the Academic All-Patriot League team.
 
Duffy led the conference in goals in the regular season with 50 and ranked in the top-ten in draw controls (74), ground balls (30) and caused turnovers (15). Sullivan leads the Black Knights with 73 points this season which ranks fourth in the conference, while her 40 assists rank second in the Patriot League. Franzoni has scored multiple goals in five straight games while ranking second on the Black Knights with 36 goals.
 
Allison Reilly has posted 18 points across Army's final two games of the regular season. Reilly set single-game program records in the win versus Navy this season, scoring nine goals while assisting three times.
 
Lacey Bartholomay and Lindsey Serafine have split time at goal for Army. Bartholomay has seen a majority of the minutes, logging 560 minutes in 15 games played with 13 starts. Serafine has made 12 appearances with three starts, including a complete-game performance against the Midshipmen. Bartholomay has 94 saves with a 47.5 save percentage and 11.13 goals against average, while Serafine has 49 stops with a 47.6 save percentage and 9.69 GAA.