ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Navy netminder Dan Daly (So / Wayne, N.J.) made a career-high 18 saves, while Patriot League Rookie of the Year Zach Hayashi (Fr / North Potomac, Md.) dominated the faceoff "x" to lead the Navy men's lacrosse team (9-6, 5-3 Patriot League) to 12-10 victory over Loyola (7-8, 5-3 PL) in the Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals played Tuesday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Mids made their move in the third and fourth quarters, holding the Greyhounds scoreless for nearly 23 minutes while scoring three-consecutive goals to take the lead for good.

Navy jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals from Max Hewitt (Sr / M / Denver, Colo.) and Henry Tolker (Jr / A / Catonsville, Md.), but Loyola answered by scoring 4-consecutive goals over a span of 3 minutes to take a 4-2 lead. Two-time First-Team All-Patriot League middie Adam Poitras scored all 3 of his goals in the game during that 4-0 run by the Greyhounds.

After a 6-minute drought, Navy closed out the quarter with a pair of goals by Tommy Hovivian (Sr / M / Dallas, Texas) and Paul Garza (So / M / Frederick, Md.) to draw even (4-4).

Loyola took the lead two minutes into the second quarter when Matt Heuston ran by his defender and poked in his first of two goals on the evening. Navy, however, would answer with 2 goals in 28 seconds, the first a 12-yard shot by Dane Swanson (Sr / M / St. Mary's City, Md.) followed by rocket from Hovivian off and assist from Swanson, to put the lead back in the Mids' hands at 6-5 (11:14).

The Greyhounds leveled the game on a well-executed play between Matthew Minicus and Heuston, but Navy again had an answer as Hewitt scored his second of the night just 27 seconds later to give the Mids a 1-goal lead (7-6) going into halftime.

Loyola opened the third quarter by taking advantage of a Navy miscue, as Max McGillicuddy intercepted a Navy pass in front of the Loyola goal and ran to the opposite box before feeding Josh Fairey for his first-career goal and locking the game up at 7 apiece.

That goal would be the Hounds' last not only in the quarter, but well into the fourth frame as the Mids held Loyola scoreless for 22:58. Meanwhile, Navy put together a 3-0 run to take the lead for good. Carter Ash (Jr / A / Leesburg, Va.), who has turned into the Mids' extra-man sharpshooter as of late, bounced his man-up shot past Loyola goalkeeper Luke Staudt to spark the run at 11:12 in the third quarter. Navy pushed its lead to 2 when Swanson put away his second goal of the evening from 10 yards out, beating the Hounds up high. Closing out the run at 5:18 in the fourth quarter was a highlight reel goal by Xavier Arline (Sr / A / Wading River, N.Y.). The two-sport standout possessed the ball on the end line of the restart and blew past the defender to beat the shot clock (0:02) and bury a back-handed goal. The goal gave Navy a 3-goal lead (10-7), the largest lead by either team in the game.

Loyola answered 13 seconds later on an Evan James goal, but the teams would match one another for the final 5 minutes of the contest en route to the Mids' 12-10 victory.

Eight players accounted for Navy's 12 goals in the contest, including goals by each of its offensive starters. Hovivian led the way with a career-high tying 4-point performance with 2 goals and 2 assists, while Swanson, Hewitt and Ash all contributed a pair of goals.

The Mids put 27 of their 34 shots on goal (79.4), while posting a 35.3 shooting percentage (12G, 34Sh).

Navy's offense had the luxury of possessing the ball and getting great looks at the cage thanks in part to both its faceoff and defensive success. Hayashi won 18 of the 26 draws (69.2) in the game and lost just 1 faceoff on 13 tries in the first (8-9) and third (4-4) quarters combined. The rookie entered the game tied for the most faceoff wins in a Navy single season (185, Anthony Ghobriel, 2023), but walked away as the Mids' first faceoff specialist to win 200 draws in a single season (203-350, 58.0). Additionally, he picked up 11 ground balls in the contest, breaking Navy's single-season ground balls record (100, Brady Dove, 2017) and becoming only the second player in school history to reach 100 ground balls with 101.

Daly put together perhaps his most complete game as the first-year starter totaled 18 saves in the game and setting a new career high. He made countless breath-taking saves, helping curb one of the most potent offenses in the league. Daly's 18 saves are the third most by a Navy goalkeeper in the Joe Amplo era (2020-present). With his performance on Tuesday evening, he shot up from 17th to eighth on Navy's single-season saves leader board with 184. It's the most single-season saves by a Navy goalie since RJ Wickham made 188 stops in 2010.

Loyola was led by James and Poitras who recorded their seventh and eight-straight games with a hat trick, respectively. Meanwhile, the Greyhounds' defense recorded a season-high 16 caused turnovers and Staudt finished with 15 saves between the pipes.

The win seemingly got the proverbial monkey off their back, as the Mids came into the contest having lost 5-consecutive home games to Loyola, including a 12-10 decision by the Greyhounds at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium just 11 days ago. Additionally, Navy got back in the postseason wins column as it earned its first Patriot League Tournament win since 2010.

Navy advances to the Patriot League Semifinals where it will meet second-seeded Lehigh Friday evening (7:00 pm) at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y. The game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network with Dave Ryan and Evan Washburn on the call. Additionally, Navy's Pete Medhurst will call the action on  1430 AM WNAV.

Top-seeded Army will battle fourth-seeded Boston U., who defeated Colgate in triple overtime on Tuesday, in the first semifinal set for 4:00 pm. That game will also be televised on CBS Sports Network.

### Go Navy ###