ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Fresh off of an upset road victory over No. 11 Virginia (W, 14-12), the No. 19 Navy women's lacrosse team (4-1) returns home to take on High Point (1-2) on Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.
The game will be broadcast on
ESPN+ and
live stats will be available. Additionally, the game will be on the radio, airing on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV. The radio broadcast is also available on
wnav.com and on WNAV on the Audacy app.
All-Time Series
The game between Navy and High Point will mark the fifth meeting between the two programs. The Midshipmen lead the all-time series, 3-1 (.750).
Navy claimed both meetings between the two teams in Annapolis, but High Point won the lone road game in the series.
The two teams played three consecutive years between 2011 and 2013. Navy claimed the first meeting between the two programs with an 11-8 victory at home in 2011. The following year, the Panthers edged the Mids, 11-10, in High Point, N.C. The Mids closed out the three-game series with a 15-6 win in Annapolis.
In 2019, the two teams met in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Klockner Stadium on the campus of the University of Virginia. The 14th-ranked Midshipmen posted a 16-5 victory over the 24th-ranked Panthers. The win gave Navy six NCAA Tournament victories in a three-year span (2017, '18, '19). In addition, the 11-point victory was the second-largest postseason win in program history, falling just shy of matching the 12-point victory Navy had over UMass (W, 23-11) in the 2017 Final Four run. The Navy defense limited the potent High Point offense to just five goals, while offensively, Navy had four players – Kayla Harris, Kelly Larkin, Reagan Roelofs, and Nicole Victory – record hat tricks.
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy improved to 4-1 on the season, registering an upset road victory, 14-12, over No. 11 Virginia on Wednesday evening at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. Trailing by four in the third quarter, Navy outscored Virginia, 8-2, over the final 24 minutes of action including scoring the final five goals to post a two-goal upset win.
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 77 goals with 33 assists, while picking up 84 ground balls, winning 78 draw controls, and causing 41 turnovers.
Entering the weekend,
Emily Messinese leads the team with 24 points on a team-high 17 goals and a team-best seven assists. She is followed by
Emma Kennedy with 18 points on 16 goals and two assists.
Mikayla Williams is third on the squad with 13 points on a balanced seven goals and six assists.
Alyssa Chung,
Tori DiCarlo, and
Ava Yovino are tied with 11 points apiece to round out Navy's double-digit point scorers. Chung has nine goals and two helpers; DiCarlo has eight goals and three assists for her 11 points; while Yovino has seven scores and four assists.
Taylor Miles (6g 3a),
Maggie DeFabio (2g 3a), and
Lola Leone (3g 1a) follow with nine, five, and four points, respectively.
Chloe Brown (1g),
Anna Gotterup (1a),
Maura Murphy (1g), and
Bella Paradiso (1a) close out Navy's point scorers with one point apiece.
Defensively, Navy has caused 41 of its opponents 69 turnovers, including 11 unsuccessful clear attempts.
Felicia Giglio leads the team with 10 caused turnovers with
Jaclyn Johns adding seven takeaways. DeFabio and Messinese have four caused turnovers apiece, while
Jalin Jenkins,
Grace Peterson, and Williams all have three each. Yovino leads the team with 13 ground balls, while Giglio follows with 12 GB. DeFabio has eight to her credit, while Messinese and Williams follow with six each. Chung, DiCarlo, and Jenkins add five GB each.
Giglio leads the team with 35 saves in 288:29 minutes of action, while adding 10 caused turnovers and 12 ground balls. In her last outing, the sophomore goalkeeper finished with a 10 saves and career highs in both ground balls (6) and caused turnovers (4). It was her second consecutive game with double-digit stops and the third of her career.
Emma Richardell has registered two saves in 11 and a half minutes of action.
Alyssa Daley leads all players with 39 draw victories. With her 10 draw wins last Sunday against Harvard, Daley topped the 300-draw plateau, becoming the third player in program history with 300 or more draw controls. She joins Loren Generi ('15) and Reagan Roelofs ('22) who had 493 and 390, respectively. Daley currently has 307 career draws.
Messinese has chipped in 16 while Williams has won 11 draws. Yovino has added three draw controls with Chung, Johns, Miles, Murphy, and Paradiso also being credited with a draw victory.
Scouting the Opposition
High Point is looking to rebound from a 26-21 midweek loss against Liberty on Wednesday. The Panthers enter the weekend 1-2 overall on the young season.
High Point has three players – Esprit Cha, Allie Connally, and Shannon Smith – who have notched double-digit points. Cha leads the team with 13 points on a team-high 11 goals and a pair of assists. Connally is second in goals with eight and has a team-best four assists for 12 points, while Smith has 10 points on seven scores and three helpers.
Julia Dustin leads the defense with a team-high seven caused turnovers to go along with a team-best seven ground balls. Ava Walsh has played a majority of action at goal, recording 20 saves in three games with 42 goals allowed for a 32.3 save percentage.
Lily Trout has 16 draw controls this season to lead the Panthers.
National Rankings
The Navy women's lacrosse team is currently ranked in two of the three national polls. The Midshipmen are No. 19 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll rankings this week, while coming in at No. 22 in the Inside Lacrosse Media poll. Additionally, the Mids are receiving votes according to USA Lacrosse.
In its history, Navy has been ranked 96 total weeks, including a stretch of 46 weeks from the final poll of 2017 (May 30) to April 5, 2021. The Mids' first appearance in the national rankings came on March 11, 2013, coming in at No. 20. The Midshipmen's highest ranking – sixth – came in the final polls of the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Last season, the Midshipmen were in the top 25 poll for seven weeks, rising as high as No. 17 and finishing the season 20th.
Up Next
Following the game with High Point, Navy heads south to Florida for a pair of games against Jacksonville (Saturday, March 8) and No. 5 Florida (Wednesday, March 12). Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
