ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 17 Navy women's lacrosse team (2-0) hits the road for the first time in 2024 as the Midshipmen travel to Emmitsburg, Md. for a midweek tilt at Mount St. Mary's (0-2). Opening draw between the Mids and the Mount is set for Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 4:00 p.m. at Waldron Family Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
 
All-Time Series
The game between Navy and Mount St. Mary's will mark the fifth meeting between the two teams. The Mids are 4-0 (1.000) all-time against the Mountaineers and 11-0 (1.000) against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
 
The two teams first met in 2011 with the Midshipmen posting a 14-4 victory in Annapolis. The next meeting occurred ten years later in 2021 with the Mids earning a 10-8 win over the Mountaineers. In 2022, the two teams met in Emmitsburg for the first time with Navy edging the home team, 13-11.
 
Last season, Navy overcame an early deficit to record a 16-8 victory over Mount St. Mary's at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Midshipmen trailed 3-0 through the first quarter, but outscored the Mountaineers, 16-5, in the final three quarters to earn the win thanks to a school-record eight goals by then-freshman Ava Yovino.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Last week, the Midshipmen led start to finish for an impressive 16-6 victory over East Carolina. Seven Midshipmen found the back of the net, including five that notched multi-goal performances as the Mids used a balanced effort to race past the Pirates and improve to 2-0 on the young season.
 
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 26 goals with eight assists, while picking up 40 ground balls, winning 35 draw controls, and causing 15 turnovers.
 
Entering the week, Emily Messinese leads the team with eight points with a team-best seven goals, while adding an assist. She is joined atop the Navy leaderboard by Kat McAteer, who has five goals and an assist for six points in two games. Maggie DeFabio, Tori DiCarlo, and Mikayla Williams round out the top 5 for the Midshipmen with four points apiece. DeFabio has four goals, while DiCarlo and Williams have three goals and an assist each. Lindsay Beardmore (2g 1a) and Lola Leone (2g 1a) follow with three points apiece, while Emma Kennedy leads the team with two assists for two points to close out the Navy point scorers.
 
Defensively, Felicia Giglio has logged just over 113 minutes between the pipes for the Midshipmen. The freshman goalkeeper has notched 12 saves with three ground balls and three caused turnovers.
 
Williams leads the team with eight ground balls, followed by DeFabio and Caroline Gage who have picked up five and four GB, respectively. Giglio leads the team with three caused turnovers, while Beardmore, Leone, Williams, and Jaclyn Johns have two caused turnovers apiece.
 
Additionally, Alyssa Daley leads the team with 16 draw controls, while Messinese and Williams have each won more than five draws this season. Messinese has nine draws, while Williams has six.
 
Scouting the Opposition
The Mountaineers enter the week with a 0-2 record on the season. The Mount opened the season on the road, falling to Towson (L, 14-10) and Delaware (L, 13-9). The game against Navy will mark the home opener for Mount St. Mary's.
 
Mackenzi Furlong and Abby Yesko lead the Mountaineers through the first two games of the season, leading the Mount with five points apiece. Furlong paces the squad with four goals and an assist, while Yesko has three goals to go with a team-high two helpers. Hailey Chester (3g), Anna Salerno (3g), and Madison Harmening (2g 1a) round out the top five for Mounts St. Mary's with three points each.
 
Ashlyn Watkins has played and started each game for the Mountaineers at goal. The sophomore keeper has 18 saves with a 40.0 save percentage and 13.50 goals against average. Watkins leads the team with five ground balls, while Molly Molchanoff has a team-best five caused turnovers. Chester has a team-high eight draws, while Logan Cook has won seven draws.
 
National Rankings
The Navy women's lacrosse team moved up two spots to No. 17 in the ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Poll. In addition, the Mids rank 17th in the US Lacrosse Magazine poll.
 
The Midshipmen opened the year ranked No. 25 in the preseason ILWomen / IWLCA poll.
 
In its history, Navy has been ranked 81 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.
 
Johns Named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week
The Patriot League announced its weekly women's lacrosse honors and Navy freshman Jaclyn Johns was selected Defensive Player of the Week. Johns anchored Navy's defense that held East Carolina to single-digit goals, picking up a 16-6 victory.
 
The freshman held ECU's leading goal scorer and point scorer from the last three seasons to one assist and no goals, limiting the prolific goal scorer to just one shot – a free-position attempt – on the day.
 
The six goals allowed marked the second time in as many games that Johns and the Navy defense have held an opponent to single-digit goals. The six goals were the fewest allowed by the Midshipmen since defeating Lafayette, 17-6, last season (March 29).
 
Additionally, Johns assisted in the Navy transition game, helping the Midshipmen convert all 20 of 20 clear attempts (100%).
 
Up Next
Following the game with Mount St. Mary's, Navy will return home for a weekend game against Villanova on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 3:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available. The game is a doubleheader with the Navy men's lacrosse team, who begin competition against No. 12 Penn State at 12:00 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.