Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game: Navy (4-4, 1-1 Patriot League) returns to Patriot League action this weekend when it plays host to Holy Cross (2-5, 0-3 Patriot League) Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The second game of a men's and women's doubleheader, the men's game is slated for a 3:30 pm faceoff (12:00 pm - women vs. Boston U.). Navy is led by Joe Amplo, who owns a 30-23 record in 5 seasons at the helm of the Navy program, while Holy Cross' J.L. Reppert has posted a 6-35 record in 4 seasons as the Crusaders' head coach. The contest marks the 20th meeting in a series that dates back to 2004 when the Midshipmen joined the league.
• Follow the Action: Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription based) and will also be carried live on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV with Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller on the call. Radio coverage begins at 3:15 pm with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show. Live stats will also be available on NavyStats.com(.)

Countdown to Faceoff
10  -  Navy has lost just 5 games in the Joe Amplo era (2020-present) when scoring 10 or more goals (24-5, 82.8).
9  -  Navy held Johns Hopkins to 9 goals in its win last Friday. It's the first time this season the Blue Jays were held to single digits. Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins was the 4th team (of 7) Navy has held to 9 or fewer goals this season.
8  -  Navy has won at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title 8 times (2004-05-06-07-08-15-16-18) since joining the league in 2004.
7  -  Max Hewitt (Sr / M), who is now just 10 points shy of 100 for his career, would extend his point scoring streak to a team-leading 7-consecutive games with a point in Saturday's contest against the Crusaders.
6  -  Navy has won 6 in a row when leading at the half, including 3 times this spring. In Joe Amplo's 5 seasons at the helm, the Mids are 22-3 when leading at the half.
5  -  The Mids' defense has held Holy Cross to 5 or fewer goals in 11 of their 19 meetings.
4  -  Four of Navy's 2024 opponents are ranked among the USILA's top 10 - #1 Army (4.13), #7 Penn State (L, 13-3 / 2.24), #13 Johns Hopkins (W, 10-9 OT / 3.15) and #19 Colgate (3.30).
3  -  Dane Swanson (Sr / M) has produced hat tricks in 3 of the last 4 contests - 5 at Boston U., 3 at Lehigh, 3 at Johns Hopkins.
2  -  With his team-leading 15th caused turnover Tuesday night against Villanova, Jackson Bonitz (Sr / D) is now just the 2nd player (Matt Rees 2015, 2016, 2017) in school history to rank among the program's single-season top 20 caused turnover list three times in a career.
1  -  Zach Hayashi (Fr / FO), who is ranked #24 nationally and #3 in the Patriot League in faceoff winning percentage (107-188, 56.9), stands #1 in the Naval Academy's Class of 2027 (1,152 students) in Military Order of Merit.

Navy-Holy Cross Series
• Saturday's contest marks the 20th meeting between Navy and Holy Cross in a series the Mids hold a comfortable 16-3 lead.
• Navy and Holy Cross have played one another 7 times in Worcester, Mass. (2005, '09, '11, '15, '17, '19, '23) and 9 times in Annapolis (2004, '06, '10, '12, '14, '16 '17, '18, '22).
• Meanwhile, Navy and Holy Cross have met on neutral ground 3 times.  
• In 2007, the two programs faced one another at SMU's Ford Stadium where the Mids dealt Holy Cross a 12-2 loss. It was Navy's first trip to Texas since the Mids defeated Johns Hopkins, 9-6, on May 8, 1971, at the Houston Astrodome.
• In 2008, Navy and Holy Cross were part of the Ford Patriot Cup which featured two high school games, along with two Div. I men's lax games (Rutgers vs. Army). Navy scored a 16-3 win over the Crusaders at Texas Stadium, the former home of the Dallas Cowboys.
• In 2013, Holy Cross earned its first victory over the Midshipmen, securing a 7-5 victory in a game that was played at Citi Field, the home of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. It was just the second Div. I men's lacrosse game played at a Major League Baseball venue.
• The Crusaders defeated the fourth-seeded Mids (11-7) in the 2017 Patriot League Quarterfinals in what was Holy Cross' second appearance in the tournament.
• Navy has scored 8 or more goals in 15 of the 19 contests, while putting up double-figure goals 12 times (8 in 2005 and 2011, 7 in 2015, 7 in 2017 PLT, 5 in 2018, 9 in 2019). The Mids' defense has held Holy Cross to five or fewer goals in 11 of the 19 games.

Scouting Holy Cross
• Taking over the head coaching duties in the midst of COVID, J.L. Reppert is in his 4th season directing the Holy Cross program. The Crusaders enter the weekend with a 2-5 record, including a 0-3 mark in the Patriot League. Holy Cross has wins against UMass Lowell (16-9) and Sacred Heart (10-9) and losses to Providence (12-6), Dartmouth (14-8), Bucknell (12-9), Army (18-8) and Lafayette (17-8).
• Holy Cross is averaging 9.29 goals per game, reaching double digits in just 2 of its 7 games to date. Leading the way in the scoring column is William Stahl (So / M), who has 17 points on a team-high tying 11 goals and a team-best 6 assists. Matt Major (Sr / A) and Will Messineo (So / A) both have 12 points. Major has punched in a team-high tying 11 goals and 1 assist, while Messineo has 9 goals and 3 assists.
• Holy Cross has been outscored 34-13 in the opening quarter, but is nearly equal with its opponents thereafter.
• Dawson Friers (Sr) is in his third season as the starting netminder where he currently owns a 12.53 goals -against average and a 46.0 save percentage. While he has started all 7 contests, JR Long (So) has seen action in 5 games and has played just under 128 minutes. He has a 14.07 GAA and a 45.5 save percentage.
• Michael Rincon (So / D) leads the team with 15 caused turnovers and has picked up 16 ground balls.
• Five different players have taken draws for the Crusaders and are led by Connor DePiero (Sr), who is 36-78, 46.2, and Gavin Ouhrabka (Fr), who is 21-46, 45.7. As a team, the Crusaders are 69-180 (38.3).

Welcome Home
• Fourth-year Holy Cross head coach J.L. Reppert is certainly no stranger to Navy lacrosse, nor to playing at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
• Reppert is a 1999 graduate of the Naval Academy where he was a four-year letter winner and captain of the lacrosse team his senior year.
• He returned to the Academy to serve as an assistant coach under Rick Sowell from 2012-14.
• This will be Reppert's second appearance at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium as a head coach (L 14-8 / 3.28.22).

Navy Picked Fourth in PL Preseason Poll
• In a vote cast by the league's coaches and sports information directors, Navy has been picked to finish fourth in the 2024 Patriot League Preseason Poll.
• Army, the defending Patriot League Champion, secured 14 of the 18 first-place votes (eligible for 16, cannot vote for your own team) and amassed 126 points to top the poll for the first time since 2011. It's only the second time (2023, Boston U.) since Loyola joined the Patriot League in 2014 that the Greyhounds were not the preseason favorite.
• Boston U., who claimed the league title in 2022, earned 103 points and a first place vote to finish second in the balloting, while Loyola, who has won at least a share of the regular-season title in 7 of its 10 years as a member of the league, posted 99 points to finish third. The remaining three first-place votes were scattered among the field with Navy earning a vote and 84 points to come in fourth, while Lehigh also had a first-place vote and 82 points to take fifth. Lafayette accounted for the final first-place vote and was selected sixth with 87 points.

Patriot League Success
• Since joining the Patriot League in 2004, Navy has put together a 100-56 record (64.1) against conference members, which includes a 2-0 mark against Hobart who left the league following the 2004 season.  
• The Mids are 89-46 (65.9) in regular-season action and 11-10 (52.4) in the Patriot League Tournament.
• 35 of the 56 losses (62.5) have been in games played either at the opponent's field (30) or at a neutral site (5).
• Navy owns a 50-21 (70.4) Patriot League record at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, including a 44-17 (72.1) mark during the regular season.
• The Mids have produced undefeated records in regular-season conference action twice, 7-0 in 2004 and 6-0 in '07.
• Navy won 8-consecutive Patriot League Tournament games and 4-straight Patriot League Tournament titles (2004-07), before dropping the program's first tournament contest in the 2008 semifinals against eventual champion Colgate.  
• Navy has won at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title 8 times (2004-05-06-07-08-15-16-18) since joining the league in 2004.
• Additionally, the Mids have claimed the league's tournament crown 5 times (2004-05-06-07-09).