ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 20 Navy women's lacrosse team (15-3) is set to take on No. 7 Loyola (16-2) in the Patriot League Championship on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at the Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore, Md. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Jason Knapp and Leah Secondo on the call. Additionally, live stats will be available.
 
Patriot League Tournament
The championship game features two of the Patriot League's top teams historically. Navy and Loyola have combined to win the last 13 Patriot League Tournament Championships. The Mids have won six championships in that span, while the Greyhounds have won seven titles, including the last four championships that were held. (NOTE: No tournament in 2020 due to corona virus pandemic)
 
The Midshipmen have qualified for the conference tournament each season since joining the Patriot League in 2008, making their 16th appearance in the Patriot League Tournament in 2024. The Mids are 21-9 (.700) overall in the conference tournament, including a 12-3 (.800) mark in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, winning seven of its last eight appearances in the semis.
 
The Midshipmen are 9-6 (.600) all-time in the Patriot League Tournament at the Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore, including a pair of victories over the Greyhounds.
 
All-Time Series
The game marks the 18th meeting between the two teams in women's lacrosse. Loyola holds a 14-3 advantage in the series.
 
Since joining the Patriot League for the 2014 season, Loyola is 101-3 (.971) against Patriot League opponents including an unblemished 84-0 record in regular-season conference contests. Navy is the ONLY Patriot League school to defeat Loyola, besting the Greyhounds in the conference tournament twice (2017, '18) and NCAA Tournament once (2018). All three victories for Navy occurred at the Ridley Athletics Complex.
 
The Midshipmen picked up a win over Loyola in the 2017 PL Championship (W, 15-5), snapping the Greyhounds' 41-game winning streak against conference opponents.
 
The Mids followed the 2017 PL Championship win with a second consecutive conference title win in 2018 (W, 17-10), while also defeating the Greyhounds in the second round of the NCAA Tournament (W, 19-15) the same year.
 
The Greyhounds have won the last six games in the series, including a 17-12 decision in Baltimore earlier this season on March 20.
 
Loyola head coach Jen Adams (Maryland '01) played collegiate lacrosse at the University of Maryland for current Navy head coach Cindy Timchal. Under Timchal's direction, Adams and the Terrapins went 83-4 (.954) in four seasons with two perfect seasons and four National Championships. Adams was the first recipient of the Tewaaraton Trophy in 2001.
 
Six Women's Lacrosse Players Earn All-Patriot League Honors
Six members of the Navy women's lacrosse team were named to the 2024 All-Patriot League Team announced Monday afternoon by the conference office. The Midshipmen tallied four first-team selections – Tori DiCarlo (attack), Emily Messinese (midfield), Alyssa Daley (defense), and Caroline Stefans (defense) – while also claiming a pair of second-team honors – Lola Leone (attack) and Mikayla Williams (midfield). Additionally, Williams was selected as the Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
 
It is the third consecutive season that Navy has had four first-team all-conference selections, while Williams becomes the first Midshipmen to earn Rookie of the Year accolades since Kelly Larkin ('20) earned the honor as a plebe in 2017.
 
DiCarlo Highlights Women's Lacrosse Academic All-Patriot League Honors
A pair of Midshipmen student-athletes were selected to the 2024 Women's Lacrosse Academic All-Patriot League Team, as announced by the conference office. Junior attacker Tori DiCarlo led the duo of academic achievers as the 2024 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition to DiCarlo's top honor, Grace Peterson was also selected to the 12-member academic squad.
 
DiCarlo's selection as Scholar-Athlete of the Year is the second in Navy history and the first for the Midshipmen since Mary Ruttum ('10) earned the honor as a senior in 2010. The Mids have had at least one player selected to the Academic All-Patriot League Team each season since 2011.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
The No. 20 Navy women's lacrosse team enters the championship 15-3 overall. In their semifinal game of the Patriot League Tournament, the Midshipmen jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as Navy posted a 19-5 victory over Holy Cross on Thursday night at the Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore, Md.
 
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 289 goals with 115 assists, while picking up 300 ground balls, winning 344 draw controls, and causing 132 turnovers.
 
Entering the Patriot League Championship, Emily Messinese and Tori DiCarlo lead the team with 81 and 70 points, respectively. Messinese has 81 points with on a team-best 63 goals, while adding 18 assists. DiCarlo is second on the team with 70 points on 58 goals with 12 helpers. Messinese has posted a team-best 15 hat tricks in 18 games, while DiCarlo has registered 14 hat tricks to this point.
 
Kat McAteer is third on the team with 48 total points. The sophomore has a balanced 23 goals with a team-high 25 assists to her credit.
 
Lola Leone is fourth on the squad with 47 points on 40 goals and seven assists, while Mikayla Williams follows with 24 goals and 15 assists for her 39 points. Maggie DeFabio has 26 goals with 12 assists for 38 points to round out Navy's 30 or more-point scorers.
 
Lindsay Beardmore and Emma Kennedy have 24 points apiece. Beardmore has a balanced 13 goals and 11 assists, while Kennedy has registered 17 goals and seven assists. Anna Gotterup has 14 points this season on 13 goals and a helper.
 
Defensively, Felicia Giglio has logged 870:17 of the 1080 minutes between the pipes for the Midshipmen. The freshman goalkeeper has notched 92 saves with 24 ground balls and nine caused turnovers. Emma Richardell has recorded 22 stops with five caused turnovers and three ground balls in 193:59 minutes of action in 2024.
 
Caroline Stefans, Williams, and DeFabio lead the team with 30, 29, and 28 ground balls, correspondingly. Giglio follows with 24, while Leone is fifth on the squad with 22 GB. The group is followed by Messinese (19 ground balls), Caroline Gage (18), Grace Peterson (18), DiCarlo (16), Jaclyn Johns (14), Morgan Lewis (12), Landen Cain (11), and McAteer (11) to close out the Mids' double-digit ground balls.
 
Stefans has caused a team-high 21 turnovers, ahead of Williams, Gage, and Johns who have 12, 11, and 10 caused turnovers, respectively. Giglio and DeFabio are tied with 9 caused turnovers apiece to round out Navy's top five in the category.
 
Alyssa Daley leads the team with a Navy single-season record 181 draw controls. The junior ranks fifth in program history with 258 career draws. She 19 back of Julia Collins ('18) for fourth all-time. Messinese currently has 62 draws on the year and 136 career DC. Williams and Stefans follow with 48 and 14 draws, respectively.
 
Scouting the Opposition
The Greyhounds enter the championship with a 16-2 overall record, advancing to the final after posting a 18-0 victory over Lehigh in the semifinal.
 
First Team All-Patriot League honorees Sydni Black and Georgia Latch lead the team with 89 points apiece, while fellow first-team selection Chase Boyle follows with 87 points. Black, who was Patriot League Attacker of the Year, has 64 goals and 25 assists for 89 points, while Latch has 52 goals and a team-high 37 helpers. Boyle, who was the conference's Midfielder of the Year, paces the Greyhounds with 74 goals, adding 13 assists to tally 87 points.
 
Boyle has been Greyhounds' primary draw specialist this season, leading the team with 180 draw controls, while Black has 71 and Latch follows with 51. Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Patriot League selection Lily Osborne leads all field players with 23 ground balls and a team-high 23 caused turnovers.
 
Lauren Spence, who was a Second Team All-Patriot League honoree, has started all 18 games in goal and has a .457 save percentage and an 8.70 goals-against average. She has recorded 101 saves, while allowing 120 goals in 827:53. Additionally, Spence joins Osborne atop the team with 34 ground balls.