ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 23 Navy women's lacrosse team (5-2) closes out the nonconference portion of its schedule on the road at No. 6 Florida (4-2) on Wednesday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
 
All-Time Series
The game between Navy and Florida will mark the fourth meeting between the two teams. The Gators lead the series 2-1. The Midshipmen are 1-0 against UF in Annapolis, but 0-2 against the Gators in Gainesville.
 
In the inaugural game between the two teams in 2018, the Midshipmen led 10-2 early, but ultimately fell 19-16 to the Gators. In 2019, Navy scored the final five goals to come from behind and upset No. 11 Florida, 14-13. The Mids trailed by as many as five goals in the second half, but chipped away at the deficit to take the lead with under 20 seconds to win the game.
 
In the most recent meeting in 2020, No. 19 Navy fell behind 6-0 in the first 10 minutes to No. 8 Florida and were unable to overcome the deficit, dropping a 17-9 decision to the Gators. The game ended up being the final contest of 2020 as the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
 
Navy has one player on its roster – Ava Yovino (Parkland) – from the Sunshine State, while Florida has seven – Theresa Bragg (Severna Park), Ashley Dyer (Elkridge), Elyse Finnelle (Deale), Gabby Greene (Edgewater), Frannie Hahn (Catonsville), Josie Hahn (Catonsville), and Susan Radebaugh (Lutherville-Timonium) – from Maryland.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy moved to 5-2 on the season after being edged 10-9 by Jacksonville on the road at Rock Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Tied 9-9 with just over a minute to play, a costly turnover by the Midshipmen gave the Dolphins a chance to play for the last shot. JU was able to break the tie with 16 seconds to play to earn the one-goal win over the Mids.
 
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 98 goals with 40 assists, while picking up 121 ground balls, winning 102 draw controls, and causing 55 turnovers.
 
Entering the weekend, Emily Messinese leads the team with 28 points on a team-high 19 goals and a team-best nine assists. She is followed by Emma Kennedy with 20 points on 17 goals and three assists. Mikayla Williams is one point back of Kennedy with 19 total points on 12 games and seven assists.
 
Alyssa Chung and Ava Yovino are tied for fourth on the squad with 15 points apiece. Chung has 13 goals to go along with two assists for her 15 points, while Yovino has 10 goals and five assists for her 15 points. Tori DiCarlo rounds out Navy's double-digit point scorers with 13 points on nine goals and four assists.
 
Taylor Miles (6g 3a), Maggie DeFabio (3g 4a), and Lola Leone (3g 1a) follow with nine, seven, and four points, correspondingly, while Kat McAteer has three points on three scores. 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 55 of its opponents 101 turnovers, including 20 unsuccessful clear attempts. Felicia Giglio leads the team with 11 caused turnovers with Jaclyn Johns adding nine takeaways. DeFabio and Chung follow with six and five caused turnovers, respectively. Grace Peterson, Messinese, Williams, and Yovino have each notched four caused turnovers apiece with Jalin Jenkins following with three.
 
Giglio leads the team with 17 ground balls with Yovino, DeFabio, and Williams following with 16, 12, and 11, correspondingly. Messinese has nine ground balls with Chung, Jenkins, Johns, and Peterson adding seven GB apiece. Caroline Gage and DiCarlo have won five ground balls each.
 
Giglio leads the team with 54 saves in 408:29 minutes of action, while adding 11 caused turnovers and 17 ground balls. The sophomore goalkeeper is averaging 10.0 saves per game in her last four games, registering 11 saves against Harvard, 10 at No. 11 Virginia, 11 against High Point, and eight at Jacksonville. Emma Richardell has registered two saves in 11 and a half minutes of action.
 
Alyssa Daley leads all players with 50 draw victories. With her 10 draw wins earlier in the year against Harvard, Daley topped the 300-draw plateau, becoming the third player in program history with 300 or more draw controls. She joined Loren Generi ('15) and Reagan Roelofs ('22) who had 493 and 390, respectively. Daley currently has 318 career draws.
 
Messinese has chipped in 20 while Williams has won 18 draws. Yovino has added three draw controls with Chung, DeFabio, Johns, Miles, Murphy, and Paradiso also being credited with a draw victory.
 
Scouting the Opposition
Florida enters the game 4-2 on the season. Four of the six teams that the Gators have played this year have been ranked with UF going 2-2 in those contests. Most recently, Florida earned a 15-9 victory over No. 15 Loyola last weekend.
 
The Gators are led by Frannie Hahn, Clark Hamilton, and Gianna Monaco who each have 20 or more points through the first six games of the season. Hahn leads the team with 26 points on a balanced 14 goals and 12 assists, while Hamilton and Monaco are 1-2 for Florida in goals scored with 18 and 17, respectively. Hamilton adds two assists for her 20 points, while Monaco has 3 helpers to total 20 points.
 
Theresa Bragg leads the defense with a team-high 13 caused turnovers to go along with 10 ground balls. Ashley Dreyer paces the Gators with 13 ground ball wins.
 
Florida has used three goalies with Georgia Hoey and Elyse Finnelle seeing the lion's share of time in the cage. Hoey has logged 185:18 minutes in five games with 33 goals allowed and 26 saves for a 44.1 save percentage and a 10.69 goals against average. Finnelle has also played in five games, logging 146:03 minutes with 21 saves and 32 goals allowed for a 39.6 save percentage and a 13.15 goals against average.
 
Three Gators have won a majority of the team's draw controls. Cali Bishop leads the team with 19 draw wins, while Riley Zusi and Gabbi Koury have 14 and 13, correspondingly.
 
National Rankings
The Navy women's lacrosse team is currently ranked in two of the three national polls. The Midshipmen are No. 23 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll rankings this week, while coming in at No. 24 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. Additionally, the Mids are receiving votes according to USA Lacrosse.
 
In its history, Navy has been ranked 98 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.
 
Florida enters the game at No. 6 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll and 10th in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The Gators are ninth according to USA Lacrosse.
 
Up Next
Following the game with Florida, Navy returns home to begin Patriot League play, as the Midshipmen take on Colgate (3-4, 0-1) on Saturday, March 15 at 1:00 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. 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.