Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game: After kicking off the program's 118th year of competition last Saturday with a 14-10 victory over High Point, the Navy men's lacrosse team (1-0, 0-0 Patriot League) returns home on Saturday to play host to Iona (0-1, 0-0 Metro Atlantic) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Faceoff is slated for 12:00 pm. Navy is led by Joe Amplo, who has put together a 36-26 record in his 6 seasons at the helm of the Navy program, while Iona's Chad Surman is in his 1st season at Iona and his 3rd overall as a head coach. Saturday's contest marks the inaugural meeting between the two programs.
• Follow the Action: Saturday's contest 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 had 10 different goal scorers in last Saturday's 14-10 win at High Point, including Carter Ash (Sr / A) who led the team with his 2nd-collegiate hat trick.
9 - Under Joe Amplo's guidance, Navy has won 9 one-goal games since his arrival in 2020, including each of the last 5. 
8 - With 82 goals to date, Henry Tolker (Sr / A) is 8 goals shy of becoming only the 10th player in school history to reach the 90-goal milestone. Additionally, he is just 5 goals shy of moving into the top 10 of Navy's all-time goal scorers list. 
7 - 2024 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and 2025 Preseason All-American Zach Hayashi (So / FO) stands 7th on Navy's career faceoff wins leader board (223-395 / 56.5). He is 35 wins outside of the top 5.
6 - Dan Daly (Jr), who was named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week on Monday, made the 6th-most single-season saves in program history last spring with 191. It's the most by a Navy netminder since Mickey Jarboe's 215 saves in 1999.
5 - Navy is the 5th-oldest (118th year) and 5th-winningest (839-390-14) program in NCAA Div. I men's lacrosse history.
4 - Navy graduated 17 players off last year's team and returns just 4 starters (A / M / D / GK) - Henry Tolker (Sr / A), Mac Haley (Jr / M), Ian McGullam (Sr / D) and Dan Daly (Jr / GK). 
3 - During the Joe Amplo era, the Mids have lost just 3 games when leading at the half (27-3). Navy has won 11-consecutive games when leading at the half, including 7 contests last spring. 
2 - Making his collegiate debut last weekend, Jack Ponzio (Fr / M) scored 2 goals and added 2 assists and was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week.
1 - Saturday's contest marks the 1st meeting between Navy and Iona. The Mids will face Le Moyne on March 18 in what will also be the 1st game between the two schools.

Scouting Iona
• Iona announced in August of 2022 it would be fielding a Div. I men's lacrosse team to compete as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference beginning in 2025. The Gaels become the 77th Div. I team to field a varsity program as of this season. In October of 2022, Iona appointed Chad Surman the program's first head coach. Surman amassed a 10-18 record in two seasons (2021, '22) as the head coach at Mercer before moving on to Manhattan College for 4 months before taking over the Iona program.
• Iona's roster is comprised of 17 redshirt freshmen and 23 true freshmen. The 40 players represent 14 different states or provinces, including Kentucky, Idaho, Florida, Texas and British Columbia
• The Gaels dropped a 20-2 decision against Hofstra in its first Div. I contest held last Saturday at Iona. Cullen Lawry (Fr / A) scored both goals for Iona, while Jake Riglietti (Fr / A) dealt out an assist.
• Vincenzo Gramaglia (R-Fr / FO) took the bulk of the faceoffs, winning 5 of 20 draws, while Cooper Metz (Fr / D) won 1 of the 4 he took.
• Splitting time in goal were Denny Piekutowski (Fr) and Noah Perea (R-Fr). Piekutowski made 9 saves and allowed 10 goals, while Perea also gave up 10 goals and made 8 stops.

High Point Takeaways
• Navy opened its 118th year with a 14-10 victory at High Point last weekend.
• Navy is now owns a 99-18-1 record in season openers, including a 16-7 mark when opening on the road. 
• This year marked just the 23rd time Navy has opened its season on the road and the 1st time since 2018.
• Sixth-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo is 5-1 in openers.
• The High Pont game was the earliest start in program history. Last year's Feb. 3 start was previously the earliest.
• 10 different players product goals, while 13 in total turned in points for the Mids.
• Among the 10 goal-scorers, Jack Nichtern (Jr / M) and Jack Ponzio (Fr / M) were 1st-time scorers. Additionally, Carter Ash (Sr / A) led the team with his 2nd-career hat trick and 1st since Queens in 2023.
• Ponzio, who also dealt out a pair of assists to go along with his 2 goals, was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week.
• AJ Marsh (So / D) punched in a goal in Navy's opener for a 2nd-consecutive year, scoring his 1st-collegiate goal in Navy's opener against Mount St. Mary's last season. With his goal, Navy has had at least one pole (close defense or LSM) score a goal in each of the last 32 years (1994-present).
• Dan Daly (Jr / GK) made a spectacular play on a clear, flipping the ball over his shoulder to an awaiting AJ Marsh for the goal in the opening half. It was Daly's 1st-collegiate point and he also became the 1st Navy goalkeeper to record an assist since 2021 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Spencer Rees had an assist against Bucknell on March 28, 2021.
• Daly was named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week, as he also made 12 stops in the cage while helping orchestrate defensive stands that held High Point scoreless over 3 long periods in the game - 0 goals for 14:53 (2nd/3rd Qtr), 0 goals for 10:52 (3rd/4th Qtr), 0 goals 11:01 (4th Qtr).
• Led by co-captain Ian McGullam's (Sr / D) 3 takeaways, Navy recorded 13 caused turnovers, the 2nd most (tied) in the Joe Amplo era.
• Navy struggled in the faceoff department, winning just 13 of 28 draws. 2024 Patriot League and ECAC Rookie of the Year Zach Hayashi (So) won just 9 of the 23 draws he took, while Colin Shadowens (Jr), who missed all of 2024 with an injury, was successful on 4 of the 5 faceoffs he took.