EMMITSBURG, Md. – The No. 17 Navy women's lacrosse team (3-0) used a 9-0 run that spanned 11 minutes in the first two quarters to take a lead that it would not relinquish en route to an 18-9 victory on the road against Mount St. Mary's (0-3) at Waldron Family Stadium in Emmitsburg, Md. Ten different Midshipmen found the back of the net with five notching multiple goals.
 
Tori DiCarlo, Lola Leone, and Emily Messinese paced the offensive attack with three goals apiece. It was the third consecutive game that Messinese has registered a hat trick. Anna Gotterup and Mikayla Williams added two scores each. For Gotterup, it was the first two goals of the sophomore's career. Alyssa Daley, Maggie DeFabio, Caroline Gage, Emma Kennedy, and Bella Paradiso also found the back of the net for the Midshipmen in the game. The goals for Daley, Gage, and Paradiso were the first of their Navy careers, while it was the first goal of the season for Kennedy.
 
Kat McAteer led the team with two assists, while DeFabio, Kennedy, Leone, and Paradiso each were credited with assists with Paradiso's helper being the first of her collegiate career.
 
Defensively, the Midshipmen held their opponent to single-digit goals for the third consecutive game. The Mids caused eight of the Mountaineers' 14 turnovers. Goalkeeper Emma Richardell led the seven Navy players who had caused turnovers with two CT. Williams paced Navy with three ground balls, while DiCarlo and Giglio each picked up two apiece.
 
Starting goalkeeper Felicia Giglio earned the win at goal. The freshman registered three saves, while surrendering four goals in just under 35 minutes of action. She gave way to Richardell who registered a save in roughly 23 minutes of competition. Senior Anne Culicerto closed out the final 2:45 for the Midshipmen in her first action of the 2024 season, contributing a save.
 
As a team, Navy won 23 draw controls compared to just seven by Mount St. Mary's. Daley led the team with 13 draws, giving her five double-digit draw performances in her career. It was one shy of her career-best performance of 14 draw controls at Bucknell last season. Gotterup won three draws in the game, while Caroline Stefans added a pair.
 
For Mount St. Mary's, Logan Cook and Christina Haspert scored two goals each. Ashlyn Watkins earned the start at goal, finishing with six saves and 14 goals allowed in 30 minutes of action.
 
Navy was the first team to scratch the scoreboard in the game. Williams dodged around the back of the net before burying her first goal of the game. The Mount evened the score on a free-position attempt, but the Mids regained the lead with a Leone goal. Messinese and DiCarlo followed with free-position goals to push the Navy lead to 4-1 with five minutes remaining in the first quarter. DiCarlo added a second score in the period, slinging a pass from Leone past the Mountaineer goalie.
 
In the second quarter, the Midshipmen continued their run, adding five more goals to push the run that started in the first quarter to 9-0. Navy won the draw to open the quarter and Leone ran down the field scoring in just 16 seconds. Williams added her second score of the game, while DiCarlo used a free-position to complete her first-half hat trick. Leone found the back of the net for the third time in the half, while Messinese added her second score in the run. The Mount ended the Navy run with a pair of goals, but the Midshipmen responded with a Messinese score. The goal gave the junior a hat trick in her third consecutive game, tying a career-long streak for Messinese. Kennedy notched her first goal of the season, running past the Mountaineer defense to push the score to 12-3 in favor of the Mids. Gage gave the Midshipmen a running clock with her first collegiate goal. Mount St. Mary's trimmed the margin to nine, but Daley won the ensuing draw control and took the ball straight to the cage for the junior draw control specialist's first collegiate goal, sending the game into halftime with Navy in front 14-4.
 
DeFabio got things started in the third quarter, converting a pass from McAteer for her first goal of the game 30 seconds into the quarter. The Midshipmen were able to use a lot of a clock with the 11-goal lead. Mount St. Mary's scored to cut the lead to 10 with a free-position goal with five and a half minutes to play in the quarter. The Mountaineers trimmed the margin to single digits, 15-6, with four ticks remaining on the clock.
 
In the fourth quarter, Navy regained a 10-goal advantage as Gotterup netted her first collegiate goal off of a pass by Kennedy from the eight-meter line. Back-to-back goals by Mount St. Mary's cut the Navy lead to 16-8, but goals by Gotterup and Paradiso pushed the advantage back to 18-8. With 81 seconds remaining, the Mount scored to cut the margin to nine. The Mids were able to close out the game and secure their third consecutive game of holding an opponent to single digits.
 
Navy returns 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.