Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game: Navy (5-3, 1-1 Patriot League) returns to Patriot League action this weekend when it travels to Worcester, Mass. to play Holy Cross (3-6, 1-2 Patriot League) on Saturday afternoon. Faceoff is set for 12:00 pm at Kuzniewski Field. Navy is led by Joe Amplo, who has put together a 40-29 record in his 6 seasons at the helm of the Mids' program, while Holy Cross' J.L. Reppert has posted a 9-47 record in 5 seasons as the Crusaders' head coach. The contest marks the 21st meeting in a series that dates back to 2004 when the Midshipmen joined the league.
• Follow the Action: The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription based) with Brendan Howe on the call. There will be no radio coverage for Saturday's contest. Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.) 

Countdown to Faceoff
10 - Navy has lost just 6 games in the Joe Amplo era (2020-present) when scoring 10 or more goals (33-6, 84.6).
9 - In his 3 previous games against Holy Cross, Henry Tolker (Sr / A) has produced a combined 9 points on 7 goals and 2 assists.
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 is averaging 14.13 turnovers per game, the 7th-lowest mark in the country. It's the fewest turnovers the Mids have averaged since ending the 2016 season averaging 13.38 per game.
6 - Meeting for just the 8th time in Worcester, Navy has won 6 of the previous 7 meetings played at Holy Cross (W in 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2023 / L in 2019)
5 - Five of Navy's 2025 opponents are ranked among the USILA's top 10 this week - #2 Army (4.12), #4 Penn State (L, 13-7 / 2.22), #12 Johns Hopkins (L, 12-9 / 3.15), #18 Boston U. (W, 13-9 / 3.1) and #20 Colgate (3.29).
4 - A win by Navy on Saturday would extend its winning streak against Holy Cross to 4 in a row and the longest in the series since the Mids won 4 straight from 2015-17.
3 - Henry Tolker (Sr / A) needs 3 goals to become only the 10th player in school history to reach 90-career goals. His 87 goals to date are the most by a Navy player since Ian Dingman (2003-07) amassed 125 goals, the second most in program history.
2 - Navy has 2 players who have reached 20 points for the season - William Goers (Fr / A/M) and Jack Ponzio (Fr / M) have 21 and 20 points, respectively and both have produced at least 1 point in all 8 games to date.
1 - During the Joe Amplo era, Navy has lost just 1 game when holding its foe to single digits. The Mids are 27-1 when achieving that feat since 2020.

Navy-Holy Cross Series
• Saturday's contest marks the 20th meeting between Navy and Holy Cross in a series the Mids hold a comfortable 16-3 lead.
• Navy and Holy Cross have played one another 7 times in Worcester, Mass. (2005, '09, '11, '15, '17, '19, '23) and 9 times in Annapolis (2004, '06, '10, '12, '14, '16 '17, '18, '22).
• Meanwhile, Navy and Holy Cross have met on neutral ground 3 times.  
• In 2007, the two programs faced one another at SMU's Ford Stadium where the Mids dealt Holy Cross a 12-2 loss. It was Navy's first trip to Texas since the Mids defeated Johns Hopkins, 9-6, on May 8, 1971, at the Houston Astrodome. 
• In 2008, Navy and Holy Cross were part of the Ford Patriot Cup which featured two high school games, along with two Div. I men's lax games (Rutgers vs. Army). Navy scored a 16-3 win over the Crusaders at Texas Stadium, the former home of the Dallas Cowboys.
• In 2013, Holy Cross earned its first victory over the Midshipmen, securing a 7-5 victory in a game that was played at Citi Field, the home of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. It was just the second Div. I men's lacrosse game played at a Major League Baseball venue.
• The Crusaders defeated the fourth-seeded Mids (11-7) in the 2017 Patriot League Quarterfinals in what was Holy Cross' second appearance in the tournament.
• Navy has scored 8 or more goals in 15 of the 19 contests, while putting up double-figure goals 12 times (8 in 2005 and 2011, 7 in 2015, 7 in 2017 PLT, 5 in 2018, 9 in 2019). The Mids' defense has held Holy Cross to five or fewer goals in 11 of the 19 games.

Scouting Holy Cross
• Taking over the head coaching duties in the midst of COVID, J.L. Reppert is in his 5th season directing the Holy Cross program. The Crusaders enter the weekend with a 3-6 record, including a 1-2 mark in the Patriot League. Holy Cross has wins against Queens (13-12), UMass Lowell (14-9) and Bucknell (11-10) and losses to Providence (15-8), Sacred Heart (11-7), Dartmouth (14-4), Merrimack (11-10), Army (17-4) and Lafayette (13-8).
• Holy Cross is averaging 8.78 goals per game, reaching double digits in 4 of its 9 games to date. Seven different Crusaders have reached double-digit scoring this spring, including Jude Lynce (So / M) who has 15 points on a team-high 14 goals and an assist. Andrew Ottomanelli (Fr / A) also has 15 points with 7 goals and a team-high 8 assists. Jon-Luke Duley (So / M) and Will Messineo (Jr / A/M) have found the back of the net 12 times each.
• Holy Cross has been outscored in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters this season, but the 2nd quarter has been the biggest different. The opponents have outscored the Crusaders 35-14 in the 2nd frame.
• JR Long (Jr) has taken over the goalkeeping duties for Holy Cross this season where he owns a 12.75 goals against average and a 45.6 save percentage. He is averaging 10.44 saves per game.
• Julian Jenkins (Jr / D) leads the team in caused turnovers (16), while Michael Rincon (Jr / D) is right behind with 15 takeaways. Jenkins, Matt Carbonell (Sr / M) and Harry Attell (Fr / FO) are tied for the most ground balls with 22 apiece.
• Gavin Ouhrabka (So) and Attell have split the faceoff duties for the Crusaders. Ouhrabka has won 53 of the 107 draws (49.5) he has taken, while Attell is 47 of 102 (46.1). 

Program Ties
• Holy Cross head coach J.L. Reppert is a 1999 graduate of the Naval Academy where he was a 4-year letter winner and captain of the lacrosse team his senior year. 
• He returned to the Academy to serve as an assistant coach under Rick Sowell from 2012-14. 

Road Rules
• The Mids own a 238-187-4 (55.9) all-time record in true road games and a 15-14 (51.7) mark in neutral site games.
• Since the beginning of the 2004 campaign, Navy has won 64 of its 127 (50.4) true road contests.
• Navy has had a losing road record in 6 (2010-11-13-14-17-20) of the last 16 years. The Mids are 13-15 on the road under Joe Amplo in 6 seasons, including 1-1 this year.
• Navy has won road games against nationally-ranked opponents in each of the last 4 seasons. The Mids dealt #15 Loyola a 14-12 loss at Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore on April 17, 2021, earned a 12-11 overtime victory against #6 Army at Michie Stadium in West Point on April 23, 2022, knocked off #13 Loyola (11-10) for a second time in Baltimore on April 7, 2023 and defeated #8 Johns Hopkins 10-9 (OT) at Homewood Field on March 15, 2024.
• The 12-11 overtime win at #6 Army in 2022 marked the highest-ranked team Navy has defeated overall and on the road since defeating #3 Yale in New Haven, Conn. on May 15, 2016, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Navy to Host 2025 NCAA Quarterfinal Site
• Hofstra (Saturday, May 17) and Navy (Sunday, May 18 / 12:00 pm & 2:30 pm) will serve as the host sites for this year's NCAA Quarterfinal games. Navy has previously hosted the quarterfinal round 7 times - 2007, '08, '09, '12, '15, '18, '23. Navy will also host quarterfinal games in 2027.
• Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., will be the site of the 2025 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships (Div. I, II, III) and Div. I Women's Lacrosse Championship. These championships will represent the 2nd time the home of the NFL's New England Patriots has hosted the combined men's and women's event and the 6th time (2008-09-12-17-18) it has hosted the men's championship. In 2017, the venue became the 1st to host both the men's and women's championships. Harvard will serve as the host school.
• Tickets for the 2025 Navy Quarterfinal site are currently on sale online at NavySports.com(.)