ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 17 Navy women's lacrosse team (3-0) returns home to host Villanova (2-1) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium 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 part of a doubleheader with the Navy men's lacrosse team, who begin competition against No. 12 Penn State at 12:00 p.m.
 
All-Time Series
The game between Navy and Villanova will mark the 10th meeting between the two teams. The Midshipmen have a 6-3 advantage in the all-time series with a 2-2 mark in Annapolis.
 
The two teams first met in 2008 with the Mids claiming a 19-8 road victory. The following season, the Wildcats edged the Midshipmen, 15-14, in overtime to even the season. Navy won the next five meetings between the two teams from 2014 to 2019, however, Villanova claimed the last two meetings of the series, earning an 11-10 overtime win last season. The last time the two teams met in Annapolis, the Wildcats earned a 12-9 win over the Midshipmen in 2020.
 
The game will pit two of the top draw controls schools in the country against one another. Through three games, Navy leads the NCAA with a 74.4 draw control percentage as a team, while, individually, Villanova's Emma Verhoest paces the NCAA with an 11.33 draw per game clip.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
On Wednesday, the No. 17 Navy women's lacrosse team 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 at Waldron Family Stadium in Emmitsburg, Md. Ten different Midshipmen found the back of the net with five notching multiple goals to improve to 3-0 on the young season.
 
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 44 goals with 14 assists, while picking up 61 ground balls, winning 58 draw controls, and causing 23 turnovers.
 
Entering the weekend, Emily Messinese leads the team with 11 points with a team-best 10 goals, while adding an assist. The junior has registered three consecutive hat tricks to start the season, tying her career-long hat trick streak. She is joined atop the Navy leaderboard by Kat McAteer, who has five goals and three assists for eight points in three games. Tori DiCarlo and Lola Leone are tied with seven points. DiCarlo has goals and an assist, while Leone has five goals and a pair of helpers. Mikayla Williams and Maggie DeFabio are tied for fifth with six points apiece. The duo each have five goals with an assist.
 
Emma Kennedy is tied for the team lead with McAteer with three assists, while adding a goal for four points. Lindsay Beardmore follows with two goals and an assist for four points.
 
Against the Mount, junior Alyssa Daley (1g), freshman Caroline Gage (1g), sophomore Anna Gotterup (2g), and sophomore Bella Paradiso (1g 1a) registered their first collegiate points to round out Navy's scorers through three games.
 
Defensively, Felicia Giglio has logged nearly 148 minutes between the pipes for the Midshipmen. The freshman goalkeeper has notched 15 saves with five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Emma Richardell has recorded a pair of saves in 29 and a half minutes of action, while Anne Culicerto has added a stop in just under three minutes in the cage.
 
Williams leads the team with 11 ground balls, followed by DeFabio and Giglio who have picked up six and five GB, respectively. Gage, Kennedy, Leone, and Caroline Stefans follow with four caused turnovers apiece.
 
Additionally, Daley leads the team with 29 draw controls. The junior has registered back-to-back games with double-digit draw victories, including a season-best 13 draws at Mount St. Mary's. Messinese and Williams follow with 10 and seven draws, individually.
 
Scouting the Opposition
The Wildcats enter the week with a 2-1 record on the season. Villanova opened the season at home, falling to No. 17 USC by one, 12-11. The Wildcats rebouned with victories over Bucknell (W, 16-12) and La Salle (W, 14-4).
 
Sydney Pappas leads the Wildcats through three games with 11 points on 11 goals. She is followed by Sami Carey who has nine points on five goals and four assists. Kayla Gulmi leads Villanova with five assists, adding a goal for six points to rank third on the squad. Rose Christie (4g 1a) is fourth on the team, while Sophia Corretjer (2g 2a), Jillian Vaught (3g 1a), and Elena Torres (4g) are tied for fifth on the Wildcats' leaderboard.
 
Cate Gallagher has played and started all three games at goalkeeper for Villanova. She has logged 155 minutes with 24 saves and 26 goals allowed for a 48.0-save percentage and a 10.05 goals against average. Makenzie Fisher has recorded just under 25 minutes of action with three saves and a pair of goals allowed in a relief appearance.
 
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 Villanova, Navy host Richmond at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 2 at 4:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.