Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game: The Navy men's lacrosse team (0-0, 0-0 Patriot League) opens its 118th year of competition when the Mids travel to North Carolina to play High Point (0-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10) on Saturday at Vert Stadium. Faceoff is slated for 12:00 pm. Navy is led by 6th-year head coach Joe Amplo, who guided the Mids to a 9-7 record a year ago, while the Panthers are under the direction of first-year head coach John Crawley. Saturday's contest marks the 3rd meeting (High Point leads 2-0) in a series that dates back to 2022.
• Follow the Action: Saturday's contest will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription based) with Michael Guerriere and Jimmy Rosselli on the call. Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.) There will be no radio coverage for Saturday's game.

Countdown to Faceoff
10 - Navy has lost just 6 games in the Joe Amplo era (2020-present) when scoring 10 or more goals (29-6, 82.9).
9 - Under Joe Amplo's guidance, Navy has won 9 one-goal games since his arrival in 2020. Heading into the opener, Navy has won 5-consecutive one-goal games. 
8 - Jack Flaherty (Jr / M), who was named to the 2025 Preseason All-Patriot League Team, is expected to step into a starting role this spring. He started 8 games as a rookie, but played along the second midfield line a year ago.
7 - 2024 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and 2025 Preseason All-American Zach Hayashi (So / FO) enters the year ranked 7th on Navy's career faceoff wins leader board (214-372 / 57.5). He is 44 wins shy of joining the top 5.
6 - Last spring, 2024 Second-Team All-Patriot League goalkeeper Dan Daly (Jr) made the 6th-most single-season saves in program history with 191. It's the most by a Navy goalkeeper since 1999 when Mickey Jarboe made 215 stops.
5 - Navy is the 5th-oldest (118th year) and 5th-winningest (838-390-14) program in NCAA Div. I men's lacrosse history.
4 - Navy returns just 4 starters (A / M / D / GK) off last year's team - Henry Tolker (Sr / A), Mac Haley (Jr / M), Ian McGullam (Sr / D) and Dan Daly (Jr / GK). AJ Marsh (So / D) saw time as a starter at close defense, but was moved to long-stick midfielder due to injuries. 
3 - During the Joe Amplo era, the Mids have lost just 3 games when leading at the half (26-3). Navy has won 10-consecutive games when leading at the half, including 7 contests last spring. 
2 - This year will be the inaugural meeting between Navy and 2 other opponents on its 2025 schedule. The Mids will play host to Iona next Saturday in Navy's home opener (12:00 pm), while Le Moyne will make the trip to Annapolis on March 18. Iona is a first-year program and is a member of the Metro Atlantic Conference, while Le Moyne made the jump to Div. I a year ago and is a member of the Northeast Conference.
1 - Henry Tolker (Sr / A) is the lone returner among Navy's top-5 scorers from last season. Tolker produced 37 points on a team-high 30 goals and 7 assists. He became just the 38th player in program history to reach the 100-point milestone when he punched in 3 goals against Lehigh in the Patriot League Semifinals last May.

Scouting High Point
• John Crawley is in his first year as the head coach at High Point after Jon Torpey, who had coached the program since its inception in 2010, announced his departure last May. Crawley, a standout player for Johns Hopkins from 2014-17, has had coaching stops at Notre Dame (2018), Colgate (2019), Lehigh (2020-22) and most recently Johns Hopkins (2023-24). 
• High Point produced a 9-7 record a year ago that included a 3-2 mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Among their wins, the Panthers captured the program's first victory over nationally-ranked North Carolina with a 12-11 decision in Chapel Hill. High Point's season came to a bitter end in the A10 Semifinals where Richmond would score 2 of the final 3 goals in the contest to post an 11-10 victory over the Panthers.
• High Point lost its top 4 scorers who combined for 108 of the team's 214 goals and 88 of the team's 132 assists - Brayden Mayea (46 G / 21 A / 67 Pts), Jack VanOverbeke (24 / 41 / 65), Nick Rizzo (19 / 15 / 34) and Jack Sawyer (19 / 11/ 30).
• Matt Lutzel (Jr / A) is the Panthers' top-returning scorer with 21 points on 19 goals and a pair of assists. He was one of the team's top extra-man sharpshooters, scoring a team-high tying 4 goals when a man up. Also returning is Tommy Meehan (R-Sr / M) who turned in 21 points on 13 goals and 7 assists.
• Defensively, John Adams (Gr) and Zack Brenfleck (D) return to a lineup that stood 32nd nationally in scoring defense (11.06). Adams led the team with 19 caused turnovers, averaging 1.19 per game which stood 4th in the A10. Brenfleck, meanwhile, totaled 15 takeaways on the year.
• Standing between the pipes is second-year starter Zack Overend (Jr / GK) who owned an 11.33 goals against average and a 50.0 save percentage (154 GA / 154 Sv). 
• High Point returns utilized 2 outstanding faceoff specialists a year ago in Collin Hoben (132-232, 56.9) and Luca Accardo (96-166, 57.8). Hoben has graduated, leaving Accardo as the main specialist. Accardo was also 2nd on the team in ground balls, picking up 60 in his 16 appearances. 
• High Point had 7 players garner All-Atlantic 10 honors last spring. Three of the 7 honorees return this season - Zack Brenfleck (Sr / D), Tommy Meehan (R-Sr / M) and Ian Cann (So / M). 

Navy-High Point Series
• Saturday's contest marks just the 3rd meeting between the 2 programs who first met on Feb. 26, 2022 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. High Point claimed the inaugural meeting with a 14-13 win
• Navy made its first trip to High Point a year later (Feb. 25, 2023) where the Panthers again bested the Mids by a 14-13 decision. Despite Navy outscoring High Point 7-5 in the second half, including 4-2 in the 4th quarter, a 6-goal 2nd quarter by the Panthers would prove the difference in the one-goal win by High Point.
• In addition to Navy's first trip to High Point, it was also the first time the Mids had played in the state of North Carolina since Feb. 25, 2011, when Navy dropped a 10-8 decision to #12 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Program Ties
• Ken Broschart was named offensive coordinator at Navy on June 12, 2024, after spending the previous 7 years at High Point, including the last 4 as the Panthers' associate head coach.
• Nine players on the offensive side of the ball accounted for 16 First (9) or Second-Team (7) All-SoCon or All-Atlantic 10 Conference citations during Broschart's tenure at High Point.

Start Me Up
• Navy owns a 98-18-1 record in season openers, including a 15-7 mark when opening on the road. 
• This year marks just the 23rd time Navy has opened its season on the road and the 1st time since 2018.
• Navy has played 19 of its last 24 openers at home. The Mids played their 2004, '05, '06, '17 and '18 openers on the road.
• Sixth-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo is 4-1 in openers.
• In what is Navy's 118th season, this marks the 33rd time Navy has opened its season in the month of February. The first time Navy played a game in the month of February was Feb. 29, 1992, when the Mids opened their season at #18 Penn State in a 16-9 losing effort.
• Saturday's game marks the earliest start in program history. Last year's Feb. 3 start was previously the earliest starting date.

Mids Graduate Impactful Senior Class
• Navy not only graduated a 17-player senior class a year ago, it was a senior class that left its mark in the record books.
• The Class of 2024 accounted for 106 of Navy's 174 goals (60.0), 62 of the 102 assists (60.8) and 168 of 276 points (60.9) from a year ago. Six of Navy's top-10 point producers have graduated, including 5 of the top 7 (Xavier Arline 21-19-40 / Max Hewitt 18-14-32 / Dane Swanson 20-7-27 / Tommy Hovivian 11-8-19 / Jon Jarosz 14-2-16).
• Hewitt graduated as one of only 8 midfielders in school history to score 30 points multiple times in a career and among just 4 to accomplish it 3 times. A 2023 All-American, he finished his career 28th on Navy's all-time scoring list with 107 points. It's the 8th-most points by a Navy midfielder.
• Arline played both football and lacrosse for the Mids, closing out his career starting 31 of the 34 lacrosse games. He produced points in 29 games, including goals in 22 contests and assists in 22. He led Navy in scoring a year ago with 40 points on 21 goals and 19 assists.
• Swanson started 40 of the 45 games in which he played and recorded points in 32 of the 45 games in which he played, including goals in 26. His 38 points as a sophomore are the 6th most in program history by a Navy midfielder.
• In addition to the scoring column, Navy lost a huge presence on defense. Three-time All-American and former USA Lacrosse U21 Team member Jackson Bonitz started every game in which he played (55). He was last spring's recipient of the Naval Academy Athletic Association Sworde for men presented to that man of the graduating class who is considered by the Association's Athletic Council to have personally excelled in men's athletics during his years of varsity competition. He finished his career ranked 2nd on Navy's career caused turnovers leader board (79). He also graduated as one of just 2 players in program history to earn All-Patriot League honors all 4 years.
• Jackson Peters garnered All-America and All-Patriot League honors as a senior as a short-stick defensive midfielder. He was one of the Mids' top threats in the transition game. He was named the recipient of the Lt. Robert T. Bianchi Award, presented to the team's most valuable player. 
• Nick LiCalzi was a 3-year starter on close defense and finished his career 14th on Navy's all-time caused turnovers list with 27.