ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 20 Navy women's lacrosse team (12-3, 6-1 Patriot League) travels to Easton, Pa. to take on Lafayette (4-10, 1-6 Patriot League) on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. at Fisher Stadium. The game will be broadcast on
ESPN+ and
live stats will be available.
Navy can clinch the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament with a victory over Lafayette or losses by Army and Holy Cross. In the 15 Patriot League Tournaments that the Midshipmen have competed in (no tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Navy has been one of the top two seeds eight times, appearing in the championship game 11 times and winning the tournament championship six times.
All-Time Series
The game marks the 16th meeting between the two teams in women's lacrosse. Navy holds a 15-0 (1.000) overall record against Lafayette. The Mids are 7-0 (1.000) against the Leopards in Easton.
The two teams have met every season since Navy joined the Patriot League with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. No Patriot League games were played in 2020 and the conference was split into divisions in 2021, resulting in Navy and Lafayette being in separate divisions and not playing one another.
Last season, the Navy posted a 17-6 victory over Lafayette at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Mids used an 11-0 run in the first half to take control of the game and cruise to the double-digit win. Eight different Midshipmen scored, while the defense limited the Leopards' offense to six goals.
The last time the two teams met in Easton, Navy posted a 17-5 road victory over Lafayette at Fisher Stadium. Nine different Midshipmen scored goals in the game, including seven who notched multiple scores.
Scouting the Midshipmen
The No. 20 Navy women's lacrosse team enters the weekend 12-3 overall with a 6-1 mark in Patriot League play. In their last outing, Navy opened the game with a 9-0 run and never looked back as the Midshipmen posted a 15-4 victory over Lehigh on Wednesday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The defense held its 11th opponent of the season to single-digit goals, while the offense tallied 15 goals with eight assists in the win. The Midshipmen dominated possession, winning 18 of 20 draw controls on the night.
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 235 goals with 92 assists, while picking up 241 ground balls, winning 281 draw controls, and causing 112 turnovers.
Entering the weekend,
Emily Messinese and
Tori DiCarlo lead the team with 67 and 59 points, respectively. Messinese has 67 points with on 53 goals, while adding 14 assists. DiCarlo is second on the team with 59 points on 48 goals with 11 helpers. Messinese has posted a team-best 13 hat tricks in 15 games, while DiCarlo has registered 11 hat tricks to this point.
Kat McAteer is third on the team with 39 total points. The sophomore has a balanced 20 goals with a team-high 19 assists to her credit.
Lola Leone is fourth on the squad with 36 points on 31 goals and five assists, while
Mikayla Williams follows with 20 goals and 13 assists for her 33 points.
Maggie DeFabio has 20 goals with 11 assists for 31 points to round out Navy's 30 or more-point scorers.
Emma Kennedy has posted a balanced attack of 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points, while
Lindsay Beardmore also has double-digit points (16) with 10 goals and six assists.
Anna Gotterup has 13 points this season on 12 goals and a helper.
Defensively,
Felicia Giglio has logged 736:57 of the 900 minutes between the pipes for the Midshipmen. The freshman goalkeeper has notched 78 saves with 23 ground balls and nine caused turnovers.
Emma Richardell has recorded 18 stops with four caused turnovers and three ground balls in 150:19 minutes of action in 2024.
Caroline Stefans leads the team with 26 ground balls with Williams (25 ground balls), DeFabio (24), and Giglio (23) just off the pace. The group is followed by Messinese (16 ground balls), Leone (13), DiCarlo (12), McAteer (10),
Grace Peterson (13),
Caroline Gage (12),
Morgan Lewis (11), and
Jaclyn Johns (10) to close out the Mids' double-digit ground balls.
Stefans has caused a team-high 17 turnovers, ahead of Williams and Johns who have 11 and 10 caused turnovers, respectively. Giglio (9 caused turnovers), DeFabio (8), and Gage (8) round out Navy's top five in the category.
Alyssa Daley, who was named USA Lacrosse Division I Women's Player of the Week this week, leads the team with 146 draw controls, which is tied with Reagan Roelofs ('22) for the second-most draws a single season in Navy history. She is seven (7) draws back of Loren Generi ('15) for the all-time single-season record of 153. The junior ranks fifth in program history with 223 career draws. She 54 back of Julia Collins ('18) for fourth all-time. Messinese currently has 52 draws on the year and 126 career DC. Williams and Stefans follow with 35 and 13 draws, respectively.
Scouting the Opposition
The Leopards enter the weekend with a 4-10 overall record, including a 1-6 mark in the Patriot League. Most recently, Lafayette dropped a 14-13 decision to Bucknell on Wednesday evening in Lewisburg, Pa.
Abby Romano and Sara Rogers lead the team with 32 and 31 points, respectively. Romano has a team-high 21 goals to go along with 11 assists for her 32 points, while Rogers is two goals back with 19 and a team-high 12 helpers.
At goal, Lexie Coldiron has played in all 14 games, logging 828:59 between the posts with 137 saves and 150 goals allowed for a 47.7 save percentage and 10.86 goals against average. Coldiron leads the team with 44 ground balls, while Lindsay Geiger leads all position players with 33 ground balls. Kyra O'Driscoll leads the Leopards with 16 caused turnovers, while Katie Marrs paces the team with 56 draw controls.
Up Next
Following the game with Lafayette, Navy concludes the regular season at home with a Patriot League game against American on Thursday, April 25 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The game, which will be broadcast on ESPN+, is slated for 6:00 p.m.
