EASTON, Pa. —  Attackmen Henry Tolker (Jr Catonsville, Md.) and Xavier Arline (Sr Wading River, N.Y.) combined for 7 goals, while Dan Daly (So / Wayne, N.J.) made 10 stops in goal to lead the Navy men's lacrosse team (7-4, 4-1 Patriot League) to a 10-9 victory over Lafayette (4-6, 1-5 PL) Saturday afternoon at Fisher Stadium in Easton, Pa.

"I thought the game was played exactly like I thought it would be," said fifth-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "Lafayette is a good team. I remember four years ago seeing this team and saying they were going to be a problem for the next four years. It's a team made up of mostly seniors and I knew this would be a hard-fought game from both sides.

"I was really proud of Zach (Hayashi) for sticking with it and fighting through at faceoff. I thought Dan Daly was the best player on the field today and our offense was good enough to help push us to a victory. Our clearing game continues to be a challenge, but we will keep working on it and strive to get better."

In a game in which neither team led by more than a pair of goals and featured 5 ties, Navy held the lead for most of the second half. After Lafayette drew even at 5-5 behind an unassisted goal by John Mathes five-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter, Navy scored back-to-back goals just 19 seconds apart by Tolker and Arline. Paul Garza (So / M / Frederick, Md.) drew the double team, leaving Tolker open from 10 yards out to give Navy a 6-5 advantage before pushing the lead to two when Zach Hayashi (Fr / FO / North Potomac, Md.) found Arline for his third goal of the day with 8:09 remaining in the third frame.

The two teams would trade goals into the early minutes of the fourth quarter with Navy maintaining at least a one-goal advantage until Lafayette managed to string two goals together. The Leopards cut the deficit to just one when Liam Sargent curled around the left side of the cage and threaded his shot over the shoulder of Daly to the right post. Lafayette then tied it up with 5:37 to go when Peter Lehman fought off Navy's short-stick defensive midfielder and found a seam to level the game at 9-9.

Navy, however, would not be denied and Tolker and Arline worked together to push the Mids ahead for a final time. Arline drew his defender towards the middle of the field where he would slip, giving Arline the time and space to get his hands free and spot Tolker open 5 yards in front of the cage for the game-winner with 2:47 remaining in the contest.

Arline led the way with 5 points on 3 goals and 2 assists, while Tolker closed out the game with a season-high tying 4 goals.

"I thought X (Arline) played like a senior and Henry continues to be reliable," added Amplo. "We need those guys to step up and play like they did today for us to be successful."

Defensively, the Mids held their seventh opponent this season to single digits, including each of the last three (7 Holy Cross, 9 Colgate, 9 Lafayette). Co-captain Jackson Bonitz (Sr / D / Shrewsbury, Pa.) produced 3 caused turnovers and became just the third player in school history to reach the 70 caused turnover milestone as he now has 72 for his career. Long-stick midfielder Jacob Darrow (Jr / Millersville, Md.) added a pair of takeaways for the Mids.

Hayashi moved into second on Navy's all-time freshman faceoff wins list by winning 11 draws in the contest. With 139 wins to date, he now trails record holder Brady Dove (163 in 2014) by 24.

Lehman stood tall for the Leopards where he accounted for 3 of their 9 goals and 2 of their 3 assists for 5 points, while Joe Doherty made 11 stops between the pipes.

With three weeks remaining in the regular season, Boston U., Colgate and Navy are in a three-way tie for first place in the Patriot League at 4-1, followed by Army, Loyola and Lehigh at 3-2, Bucknell at 2-4, Lafayette at 1-5 and Holy Cross at 0-6. Navy already has wins over both Boston U. and Colgate. Navy still has games against Army, Loyola and Bucknell.

Navy will be back in action next Saturday when it makes the trip to West Point for the annual Star Game against archrival Army (8-2, 3-2 Patriot League). CBS Sports Network will televise the contest from Michie Stadium beginning at 1:00 pm with Brent Stover and Steve Panarelli calling the action. Additionally, WNAV 1430 AM / 99.9 FM and WFED 1500 AM will carry the game live with Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller on the call.

### Go Navy ###