ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  Holding just a two-goal advantage at the half, the Navy men's lacrosse team (5-4, 2-1 Patriot League) went on an 11-1 run to open the second half and secure a 17-7 victory over Patriot League foe Holy Cross (2-6, 0-4 Patriot League) Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Eleven different players scored for the Midshipmen, as Navy topped 15 goals for the fourth time this season and the second against a Patriot League opponent (16 vs. Boston U.).

"I'm just proud of our guys. It was a good team win," said fifth-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "Holy Cross played their tails off in that first half. They were tough to guard early in that first quarter and we couldn't score on them. We got 5 transition goals in the first and we couldn't break the shell there in 6-on-6 and that was a little frustrating. I thought their goalie played really well, but I thought defensively they were very solid. We settled in after the first couple of possessions defensively. The game was a little chaotic in the first quarter and I thought once we settled in, we played a really good defensive game.

"I was most proud of Joe Bucci. The kid goes in when Zach (Hayashi) goes down and he goes 10 of 14 in the second half. I thought in that third quarter, I think he was 5 of 6. That won us the game. We were able to keep momentum and stop any run they potentially would have had. I thought us scoring early in the third quarter helped us, but really Joe Bucci from an individual standpoint solidified it for us."

Xavier Arline (Sr / A / Wading River, N.Y.) and Max Hewitt (Sr / M / Denver, Colo.) scored goals just 24 seconds apart to give Navy a 2-0 lead just over 2 minutes into the contest.

Holy Cross, however, answered by scoring the next three, including an extra-man buzzer-beater by Will Messineo off an assist from John Mitchell to give the Crusaders their only lead of the game at 3-2.

The Mids would score the game-tying and go-ahead goals just 7 seconds apart as Henry Tolker (Jr / A / Catonsville, Md.) found Tommy Hovivian (Sr / A / Dallas, Texas) planted on the left crease, while Zach Hayashi (North Potomac, Md.) won the ensuing faceoff and despite being hounded by Owen Larson, the Navy rookie punched in his second-career goal to give the Mids the lead for good with 4:35 remaining in the opening period.

Navy made it 3 in a row when Arline found co-captain Jackson Peters (Sr / SSDM / Darien, Conn.) for the goal on the restart following a Holy Cross turnover.

The Crusaders briefly interrupted the Navy run when they used the transition game in their favor following a Dawson Friers save and Matt Major found Luca Ward to trim Navy's lead back to one (5-4).

Hewitt scored his second of 3 goals in the game, sending his bouncer past Friers to the left post, giving Navy a 6-4 advantage going into the break.

Fueled by backup faceoff specialist Joey Bucci (Fr / West Chester, Pa.), Navy turned wins on 5 of 6 draws in the third quarter into a 5-0 run to break open the game. Ian McGullam forced a Holy Cross turnover, setting in motion the Mids' transition game and a Tolker goal that would trigger the Mids' run. Tolker went on to score a second goal during the run, a spectacular over-the-shoulder goal while he took a shot from a Holy Cross defender that sent him into the crease.

Navy increased its lead to 12-4 just 45 seconds into the fourth period when Mac Haley used a roll dodge to get underneath Owen Larson and poke his shot past backup goalkeeper JR Long.

After 23-plus minutes without a goal, Holy Cross scored its fifth of the game as Ward came up with a scrappy ground ball and weaved his way to the goal for his second of the day.

The Mids continued to pour it on, scoring 5 more, including 4 in a 3-minute span to take their largest lead of the game at 17-5 with 5:54 remaining in the contest.

Holy Cross' Michael Bonomo and Cole Kratovil went on to score the final 2 goals of the game in a 17-7 Navy victory.

Arline (1G, 3A) and Tolker (2G, 2A) led the way with 4 points apiece, while Hewitt paced the Mids with a hat trick, his first multi-goal game of the season since the opener against Mount St. Mary's (4G).

Defensively, Navy had 3 goalkeepers combine for 11 saves, including starter Dan Daly (So / Wayne, N.J.) who had 7 saves in nearly 50 minutes of action. The Mids forced 6 of Holy Cross' 21 turnovers, including 2 apiece by Jackson Bonitz (Sr / D / Shrewsbury, Pa.) who moved into a tie with Chris Fennell (2014-17) for third on Navy's career caused turnovers list with 67. Jack Norton (Jr / SSDM / Vienna, Va.) also forced a pair of takeaways and pushed his season total to 13, just 2 caused turnovers shy of Navy's single-season top 20.

Navy won the faceoff battle 18-10, as Hayashi won 8 of the 12 draws (66.7) he took in the opening half, while Bucci, who walked onto the team in the fall won 10 of the 14 faceoffs (71.4) he took, all in the second half. Bucci, who had taken just 12 faceoffs prior to today's contest, won 5 of 6 in the third quarter and 5 of 8 in the fourth.

Six different players accounted for Holy Cross' 7 goals, including Ward who had a pair. Friers finished with 7 saves in the opening half, while Long, who came in relief in the second half, allowed 11 goals and did not make a save. Riley Stanton played the final 2:43 and made one stop.

Navy returns home next Saturday to play host to 19th-ranked Colgate (6-3, 3-0 Patriot League). The game is slated for a 12:00 pm faceoff at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller on the call. Additionally, WNAV 1430 AM / 99.9 FM will carry the game live.

### Go Navy ###