BETHLEHEM, Pa. —  Behind a dominant faceoff performance in the Mids' Patriot League win at Boston University over the weekend, Navy's Zach Hayashi (Fr / FO / North Potomac, Md.) has been named the Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week, as well as the Patriot League Rookie of the Week. In addition to Hayashi, Army's Jackson Eicher (offense) and AJ Pilate (defense), along with Colgate's Matt LaCombe (goalkeeper) were among those players recognized by the league office as players of the week at their respective positions.

This is the second time Hayashi has garnered each of these awards, as he was named the league's faceoff specialist of the week following a 14-for-21 (66.7) effort in the win over Mount St. Mary's in Navy's opener and followed up with a 16-for-23 (69.6) performance in the Mids' victory over Hofstra in which he was named the league's rookie of the week.

Hayashi, meanwhile, is just the second Navy player to be named the league's rookie of the week and earn one of the other player-of-the-week awards (joined the league in 2004). Ryan Kern was named the rookie of the week and the league's goalkeeper of the week on April 17, 2017, following the Mids' 10-6 win over eighth-ranked Army in which Kern made 17 saves, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

Hayashi was sensational in the Mids' conference opener against the Terriers where he won a career-high 19 of the 27 draws (70.4) he took, while also grabbing a personal-best 10 ground balls. The 19 faceoff wins were the sixth most in program history and tied as the most during the Joe Amplo era (2020-present). It's the first time a Navy player has turned in double-digit ground balls since Jacob Jarosz grabbed 10 against Jacksonville on Feb. 28, 2021.

Ranked 16th nationally and second in the Patriot League, Hayashi has won 62.1 percent (72-116) of his faceoffs to date. The 72 wins are the third most in school history among freshmen, while his 116 attempts stand as the fourth most. Meanwhile, his winning percentage is second best behind William Wallace who attempted just one more faceoff than Hayashi has won (46-73, 63.0) back in 2004. The rookie is just 19 wins shy of joining Navy's all-time single-season faceoff wins list and 20 outside the top-20 career faceoff wins leader board.

The Midshipmen will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Bethlehem, Pa. to take on Lehigh (2-3, 0-0 Patriot League) at Frank Banko Field at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The game is slated for a 3:30 pm faceoff and will be streamed live on ESPN+. Additionally, WNAV 1430 AM / 99.9 FM will carry the game live with Pete Medhurst on the call.

### Go Navy ###