BETHLEHEM, Pa. —  Navy faceoff specialist Joey Bucci (West Chester, Pa.) has been named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week following his performance in Navy's win over Holy Cross last Saturday. In addition to Bucci, Boston U.'s Roy Meyer (defense) and Will Barnes (goalkeeper), Loyola's Matthew Minicus (offense) and Lehigh's Sean Dow (faceoff specialist) were among those players recognized by the league office as players of the week at their respective positions.

This is the fourth time this season a Navy player has garnered the league's rookie-of-the-week honor and the fourth time it has gone to a faceoff specialist. Bucci, however, is a first-time recipient with Zach Hayashi (North Potomac, Md.) getting the nod on three other occasions (Feb. 10, March 4, March 18). Additionally, this is just the fourth time since the Mids joined the Patriot League in 2004 that Navy has had two different players garner the league's weekly rookie honor (2007 Basil Daratsos, Nick Mirabito / 2011 Sam Jones, Harrison Chaires, Tucker Hull / 2018 Jeff Durden, Christian Daniel).

Bucci, who came aboard the team in the fall as a walk-on, played a pivotal role in Navy's win over the Crusaders. He was called upon at halftime to replace an injured Hayashi and he delivered. Bucci, who came into the contest having taken a combined 12 faceoffs in 4 appearances, won 10 of the 14 draws (71.4) he took in the second half. He won 5 of the 6 faceoffs in the third quarter, sparking a 5-0 Navy run and extending the Mids' lead from two (6-4) at the break to seven (11-4) through three quarters. He went on to win 5 of the first 8 draws in the fourth quarter. His 71.4 winning percentage marked Navy's best single-game mark (min. 10 attempts) this season. Additionally, he recorded a career-high 5 ground balls.

Navy returns home on Saturday to play host to 17th-ranked Colgate (6-3, 3-0 Patriot League), who sits atop the Patriot League standings. 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 ###