Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game: In its 22nd season as a member of the Patriot League in men's lacrosse, Navy (3-1, 0-0 Patriot League) opens its conference slate on Saturday when it plays host to 20th-ranked Boston University (4-0, 0-0 Patriot League). Faceoff is slated for 12:00 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The game marks the first of four-consecutive home games for the Mids. Navy is led by Joe Amplo, who has put together a 38-27 record in his 6 seasons at the helm of the Navy program, while BU's Ryan Polley has amassed a 93-71 record in 12 years as its head coach. Saturday's contest marks the 10th meeting in a series that dates back to 2014 (Navy leads 6-3).
• Follow the Action: Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription based) and will also be carried live on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV with Joe Miller on the call. Radio coverage begins at 11:45 am with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show. Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.) 

Countdown to Faceoff
10 - Navy head coach Joe Amplo is 10 wins shy of reaching 100 for his career (90-80 / 13th yr)
9- Navy has only played against the 20th-ranked team in the country 9 times since rankings began in 1973. The Mids are 7-2 in those contests and last played a 20th-ranked team in 2019 (Army / L, 9-8 OT).
8- Navy has won at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title 8 times (2004-05-06-07-08-15-16-18) since joining the league in 2004.
7- Navy has won 7-consecutive games when it has more ground balls than its opponent. Navy is 29-11 under Joe Amplo when achieving that mark, including 3-0 this season.
6- Navy has lost just 6 games in the Joe Amplo era (2020-present) when scoring 10 or more goals (32-6, 84.2).
5- Saturday's contest marks the 5th time Navy has faced Boston U. in its Patriot League opener. The Mids are 2-2 in those contests (2.27.16, L 10-9 2OT / 2.25.17, L 8-7 / 2.24.18, W 10-8 / 3.2.25, W 16-9) and have won 2 in a row.
4 - Navy has 4 players who enter Saturday's game riding 4-game point-scoring streaks, including freshmen William Goers (A) and Jack Ponzio (M). Goers, Navy's leading scorer (6-6=12), has dealt out an assist in each of his 4 appearances this year.
3- #20 Boston U. is the 3rd-consecutive opponent Navy has played who has been ranked at the time of the contest. The last time that happened was in 2021, when the Mids played 4-straight games against ranked foes.
2- Henry Tolker (Sr / A) needs just 2 goals to move into the top 10 of Navy's all-time goals scored list. Additionally, he is 5 goals shy of becoming only the 10th player in school history to reach the 90-goal milestone. 
1- Zach Hayashi (So / FO), who needs just 3 faceoff wins to break into Navy's all-time top-5 career faceoff wins leader board, stands #1 in the Naval Academy's Class of 2027 (1,114 students) in Military Order of Merit.

Scouting Boston U.
• Twelfth-year Boston U. head coach Ryan Polley has led the Terriers to a 4-0 record this season with wins over Siena (9-7), Monmouth (15-6), Brown (8-7) and Air Force (15-7). This will by BU's first road trip since its opener at Siena on Feb. 8.
• The Terriers, who won the Patriot League title in 2022, have been picked to finish 4th, just ahead of the Mids, according to the 2025 Patriot League Preseason Poll.
• On the offensive side of the field, the Terriers lost 5 of their top 6 scorers from a year ago, including Louis Perfetto (45-48=93) and Vince D'Alto (41-33=74). However, some young talent has stepped up for BU in the form of Timothy Shannehan (Fr / A) and Mike Rooney (Fr / M). Shannehan leads the team with 20 points on 11 goals and 9 assists, while Rooney has 10 points on 9 goals and an assist. Additionally, Jimmy Kohr (Jr / A) has already surpassed his point total from a year ago (5-4=9) with a team-high 13 goals and 3 assists. Shannehan is ranked 15th nationally in points per game (5.00), Kohr is 41st (4.00) and O'Connell is 52nd (3.75).
• Rooney, meanwhile, ranks #1 nationally in extra-man goals with 4 to date.
• BU also lost two great defensive players in Patrick Morrison (D) and Roy Meyer (LSM) who had 24 and 30 caused turnovers apiece last season. However, the Terrier defense has been strong in the early weeks. BU stands #5 in scoring defense (6.75) and is #1 in the country in caused turnovers (13.00). Matt Freeman (Jr / D) and Connor Kehm (Jr / D) have assumed starting roles where both players have 11 caused turnovers and are ranked 3rd nationally forcing 2.75 turnovers per game.
• Netminder Will Barnes (Sr), who garnered Second-Team All-Patriot League honors a year ago, owns a 6.41 goals-against average (#5 nationally) and a 61.9 save percentage (#13). 
• The faceoff duties have been spread among 3 players for the Terriers, however, Matthew Fritz (Sr) has taken the bulk and is 19 for 42 (45.2). Madden Murphy (Fr) is 15 for 27 (55.6) and Daine Kostes (Fr) is 7 for 17 (41.2)

About the Series
• Meeting for the 10th time overall, Navy holds a 6-3 advantage in the series which began in 2014. 
• The two teams did not meet during the 2020 and '21 seasons due to the pandemic. The 2020 season was shut down 2 weeks prior to when the Mids and Terriers were to have met and in 2021, the Patriot League utilized divisions to limit travel because of the pandemic. Navy did not play Boston U., Colgate or Holy Cross.
• Saturday's contest will mark the 5th meeting between the two programs in Annapolis with Navy winning 3 of the 4 previously-played games (2015, W 14-6 / 2017, L 8-7 / 2019, W 13-12 / 2023, W 10-8).
• 5 of the last 7 games between Navy and Boston U. have been decided by 2 or fewer goals. The 2016, '17, '18, '19 and '23 games were decided by a combined 7 goals. Navy won 3 of those 5 contests - 2016, Boston U. 10-9 OT2 / 2017, Boston U. 8-7 / 2018, Navy 10-8 / 2019, Navy 13-12, 2023, Navy 10-8.

Penn State Takeaways
• The 40th meeting in the series was won by #10 Penn State, 13-7, last Saturday in Univeristy Park, Pa. It was the 1st time the two programs met on the Nittany Lions' home field since 2003.
• Penn State, who trailed 4-3 early in the 2nd quarter, used a 4-0 run (7-4) to separate itself and take the lead for good by halftime.
• The Nittany Lions scored 5 of their 13 goals on extra-man after Navy was flagged 8 times in the contest. Navy has not had 8 penalties in a game since March 7, 2014 against Lafayette (144 gms between the 2 occurrances). During that same timeframe, Navy had only been flagged 7 times in a game twice.
• Penn State dominated possession in the 2nd half, specifically in the 3rd quarter where the Mids were outshot 19-7 and the Nittany Lions had a 12-2 advantage in ground balls.
• Evan Conway (Sr / M) paced the Mids with a career-high 3 goals on 3 shots. It marked the 1st time in his career that he scored multiple goals in a game.
• William Goers (Fr / A) dealt out the assist on Conway's 3rd goal of the day which extended Goers' games with an assist to 4.
• Dan Daly (Jr / GK) was fantastic between the pipes where he recorded a career-high 20 saves and gave up just 8 goals at even strength. He is the 1st Navy goalkeeper with 20 saves since Pat Ryan made 23 stops against Loyola on April 7, 2023.

Navy Picked Fifth in PL Preseason Poll
• In a vote cast by the league's coaches and sports information directors, Navy has been picked to finish 5th in the 2025 Patriot League Preseason Poll. 
• Army, the 2024 Patriot League Co-Regular-Season Champion, secured 14 of the 18 first-place votes (eligible for only 16 due to not being able to vote for your own team) and amassed 125 points to top the poll for a second-consecutive year. It's only the third time (2023, Boston U / 20024, Army) since Loyola joined the Patriot League in 2014 that the Greyhounds were not the preseason favorite.
• Lehigh, who won the Patriot League Tournament title a year ago, earned 100 points and a first-place vote to finish second in the balloting, while Colgate, who was among four teams to finish tied for third last spring with a 5-3 record, posted 95 points and had three first-place votes to finish third. Closing out the poll was Boston U. (86) in fourth, followed by Navy (72), Loyola (69), Bucknell (49), Lafayette (35) and Holy Cross (17). 
• Additionally, Navy's Jack Flaherty (Jr / M / Massapequa, N.Y.) was named to the preseason all-league team.     
• Heading into this weekend's conference openers, 3 Patriot League teams are currently ranked in the USILA Coachs Poll with Army tied for 5th, Colgate #15 and Boston U. #20. Navy continues to receive votes in the poll.
• Five of the 9 Patriot League teams are above .500, including Army and Boston U. who are both undefeated at 4-0. Lafayette and Navy are 3-1, while Colgate stands 3-2.

2025 Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
1. Army, 125 points (14 first-place votes)
2. Lehigh, 100 (1)
3. Colgate, 95 (3)
4. Boston U., 86
5. Navy, 72
6. Loyola, 69
7. Bucknell, 49
8. Lafayette, 35
9. Holy Cross, 17

Breaking Down Patriot League Openers
• Eight of the 9 Patriot League teams are set to open conference action this weekend. In addition to the Mids playing host to Boston U., Colgate travels to Loyola, Bucknell is at Holy Cross and Lafayette makes the trip to Army on Saturday. Meanwhile, Lehigh plays an out-of-conference matchup at Villanova on Friday afternoon. 
• Saturday's game against Boston U. marks the 22nd Patriot League opener for the Midshipmen. Navy joined the conference in men's lacrosse in 2004.
• Navy owns a 9-12 (42.9) record in Patriot League openers and has won 4 of its last 7.
• This will be just the 7th time in 22 years that Navy has opened conference play at home and has posted a 2-4 mark - 2012, L 14-9 vs. Bucknell / 2015, L 8-7 vs. Bucknell / 2017, L 8-7 vs. Boston U. / 2019, W 14-8 vs. Bucknell / 2021, W 13-10 vs. Bucknell / 2023, L 13-10 vs. Lehigh.  
• This will be just the 5th time (2016, 2017, 2018, 2024) Navy has opened its Patriot League schedule against Boston U. The Mids are 2-2 against the Terriers in the conference opener, winning each of the last 2.
• Navy has never played Army, Colgate, Holy Cross or Loyola in a league opener, while Bucknell has been the most common foe, meeting Navy in 9 of the 21 openers.

Patriot League Success
• Since joining the Patriot League in 2004, Navy has put together a 105-59 record (64.0) against conference members, which includes a 2-0 mark against Hobart who left the league following the 2004 season.  
• The Mids are 93-48 (66.0) in regular-season action and 12-11 (52.2) in the Patriot League Tournament.
• 37 of the 59 losses (62.7) have been in games played either at the opponent's field (31) or at a neutral site (6).
• Navy owns a 54-22 (71.1) Patriot League record at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, including a 47-18 (72.3) mark during the regular season.
• The Mids have produced undefeated records in regular-season conference action twice, 7-0 in 2004 and 6-0 in '07.
• Navy won 8-consecutive Patriot League Tournament games and 4-straight Patriot League Tournament titles (2004-07), before dropping the program's first tournament contest in the 2008 semifinals against eventual champion Colgate.  
• Navy has won at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title 8 times (2004-05-06-07-08-15-16-18) since joining the league in 2004.
• Additionally, the Mids have claimed the league's tournament crown 5 times (2004-05-06-07-09).