ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Freshman Alyssa Chung and senior team captain Emily Messinese combined for 10 goals as the No. 23 Navy women's lacrosse team (6-3, 1-0 Patriot League) began conference play with a 19-9 victory over Patriot League foe Colgate (3-5, 0-2 Patriot League) on Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
 
"It was a good conference opener for Navy women's lacrosse," head coach Cindy Timchal said. "It was highlighted by Emily Messinese and AC [Alyssa Chung]'s play. It was nice to have a senior captain and a freshman excel.
 
"We always want to do better on defense, and we are going to be working on that," Timchal added. "Credit to Colgate. They have a new coaching staff and are well coached. They pushed us early and made it close in the first half. I thought we came out strong in the second half. We wanted to have a good fourth quarter, and I thought we did that today. We had a lot of contributors today, and were able to get a lot of different players into the game. It was a good win for Navy women's lacrosse."
 
Offensively, Navy finished with 19 goals on 41 shots as nine different Mids found the back of the net in the game. Chung registered a new career high, finishing with five goals, while Messinese matched her career best with five scores to pace the Midshipmen offense. Emma Kennedy and Mikayla Williams chipped in two goals apiece, while Chloe Brown, Tori DiCarlo, Caroline Gage, Lola Leone, and Maura Murphy each scored.
 
Ava Yovino led the team with three assists, while Maggie DeFabio and Messinese followed with two helpers apiece. Kennedy and Bella Paradiso added assists in the game. Messinese's two assists combined with her five goals gave her seven points on the day, which tied a career best that she set last season against Bucknell.
 
The Midshipmen dominated the draw circle, winning 22 draw controls, including 12 of the 15 second-half draws. Alyssa Daley won a game-high 14 draw controls in the game, while Messinese added four draws and Williams won one. The 14 draws for Daley was one shy of her season best set earlier in the season at No. 20 Richmond.
 
Navy caused five of Colgate's 12 turnovers on the day. DeFabio led the team with three caused turnovers, while Yovino and Anna Gotterup also registered takeaways. DeFabio matched Grace Peterson with a team-high four ground balls. Felicia Giglio added two ground balls with Chung, Gage, Gotterup, Williams, and Yovino winning GBs.
 
Giglio earned the victory at goal for the Midshipmen. The sophomore finished with five saves in just under 55 minutes of action. She gave way to senior Emma Richardell, who recorded a clean sheet with one save in five-plus minutes of action.
 
For Colgate, Caroline Panzirer led the team with three goals, while Lucy Licata added two scores. Nelle Kniffin led the Raiders with two ground balls with Licata winning a team-high two draws. Lauren Solis allowed 19 goals, while recording 12 saves in a complete-game effort in the cage.
 
Navy opened up the scoring in the first quarter as Chung put the Mids in front 1-0. Colgate knotted the score at 1-1, but the Midshipmen used a 5-1 run to take a 6-2 advantage. Williams scored a pair of goals around a Messinese score to begin the run. Following a Raiders score, Messinese and Chung extend the run with their second goals of the first quarter. Colgate closed out the opening quarter with a goal to cut the Navy advantage to 6-3.
 
In the second quarter, Chung and Messinese began the scoring with back-to-back goals to push the advantage to 8-3. The Raiders countered with a 3-0 run to end the half to send the game into intermission with the Mids in front 8-6.
 
The Midshipmen outscored the Raiders, 6-1, in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Kennedy and Messinese began the second half with goals. Colgate scored a goal, but Navy ended the third quarter with four straight scores to go ahead, 14-7. Gage opened the run with her first goal of the season and the sixth score of her young career. Chung and Kennedy both found the back of the net during the 4-0 run with DiCarlo capping the run with a goal.
 
Colgate started the fourth quarter with a goal, but Chung and Messinese notched consecutive scores to push the Navy advantage to 16-8. Following a Raider goal, the Midshipmen closed out the game with a 3-0 run to make the margin double digits, 19-9. Brown, Leone, and Murphy all scored goals to close out the game and secure the victory.
 
Up next, Navy hits the road for a Patriot League game against Bucknell (4-3, 0-0) on Saturday, March 22 at 3:00 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.