Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game: Coming off a 13-9 victory over #20 Boston University, 18th-ranked Navy (4-1, 1-0 Patriot League) will look to carry that momentum into Friday night's nationally-televised contest against Lehigh (1-4, 0-0 Patriot League). Faceoff is set for 5:00 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Navy is led by Joe Amplo, who has put together a 39-27 record in his 6 seasons at the helm of the Mids' program, while Lehigh's Will Scudder has posted an 11-11 record in what is his second year as its head coach. Friday's contest marks the 48th meeting in a series that dates back to 1910 (Navy leads 32-13).
• Follow the Action: Friday's game will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Dave Ryan and Steve Panarelli calling the action. Additionally, the game will be carried live on 1430 AM WNAV with Joe Miller and Tim Nolan on the call. Radio coverage begins at 4:45 pm with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show. Live stats will also be available on Navystats.com(.) 

Countdown to Faceoff
10 - Navy is ranked #10 nationally in scoring offense, averaging 14.00 goals per game. It's the most goals averaged by Navy through its first-5 games since 1986 when it averaged 14.40. That team began its season 8-0 and scored double digits in each of those 8 contests.
9 - Lehigh has won 9-consecutive games against the Midshipmen which includes 3 Patriot League Tournament games. Navy's last win in the series was on March 24, 2018.
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 has won 7-consecutive games when it has more ground balls than its opponent. Navy is 29-11 under Joe Amplo when achieving that mark, including 3-0 this season.
6 - Navy has lost just 6 games in the Joe Amplo era (2020-present) when scoring 10 or more goals (33-6, 84.6).
5 - Navy has 4 players who are riding 5-game point-scoring streaks, including freshmen William Goers (A) and Jack Ponzio (M). Mac Haley (Jr / A) has assists in each of the last 4 games and Jack Flaherty (Jr / M) has goals in each of the last 3.
4 - Lehigh has only beaten Navy 4 times in the previous 27 games played in Annapolis, including each of the last 2 (4-3 in 1913 / 9-4 on 3.30.2012 / 15-8 on 3.23.2019 / 13-10 on 3.4.2023)
3 - Friday night is the 1st of 3 nationally-televised games for the Mids. CBS Sports Network will also televise Navy's April 12 game against Army at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, as well as its April 18 contest at Loyola.
2 - The Mids are looking to start the Patriot League season 2-0 for the 1st time since 2019 when they beat Bucknell (14-8) and Lafayette (12-7).
1 - Henry Tolker (Sr / A) needs just 1 goal to move into the top 10 of Navy's all-time goals scored list. His 86 goals are the most by a Navy player since Ian Dingman amassed 125 goals, the second most in program history, from 2003-07

Navy-Lehigh Series
• Two of the oldest programs in the sport's history, Navy (118th year) and Lehigh (136th year) will meet for the 48th time in a series that began in 1910. It's the 7th-most games Navy has played against an opponent and the 2nd most against a team in the Patriot League. 
• The Mids own a 32-15 advantage in the series. Navy was 19-1 against the Mountain Hawks before it joined the Patriot League in 2004 and 13-14 since (11-10 in the regular season, 2-4 in the league tournament).
• Navy won the first 3 contests in the series before suffering its first loss, a 4-3 decision in 1913. The Mids then won 25 in a row (1914-2010) before Lehigh dealt Navy a 14-10 loss in Bethlehem in 2011. That win sparked a 5-game winning streak by the Mountain Hawks over the Mids. Navy snapped that 5-game skid in 2015 when it outscored Lehigh 4-2 in the final quarter to earn a 13-12 win at home.
• Heading into Friday's contest, the Mountain Hawks have won 9 in a row against the Mids dating back to 2018. Navy's last win in the series was a 10-7 victory on March 24, 2018.
• Navy has failed to score in double figures against Lehigh in 7 of its last 9 contests. Among Navy's 15 losses in the series, Navy has failed to score double figures in 12 of those games.

Scouting Lehigh
• Will Scudder, who joined Lehigh's coaching staff in 2014 and served as associate head coach for the 5 years leading up to him being named the head coach, is in his 2nd year guiding the Mountain Hawks. In his inaugural season, he guided Lehigh to a 10-7 record, won the Patriot League Tournament title and nearly knocked off 3rd-ranked Johns Hopkins in Baltimore in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Lehigh, who is projected to finish 2nd in the Patriot League this spring, lost its first-four games of the season (Robert Morris, Fairfield, Cornell, Richmond) before posting a 10-7 road victory over Villanova. 
• Lehigh lost 2 of its top 3 scorers from a year ago in Scott Cole (41G, 8A) and Quinn Armstrong (34G, 8A), but return 3 of the top 5 scorers.
• Leading the way for the Mountain Hawks is Luke Breslin (Fr / A) who has 12 points on 5 goals and 7 assists, while Dakota Eierman (Sr / M) is the team's top goal scorer with 9 to go along with a pair of assists. Andrew Kelly (Jr / A) was the team's second-leading point producer from a year ago (27G, 16) and stands 3rd this season with 8 goals and 2 assists.
• Two-time All-Patriot League defenseman Richard Checo (Jr) led the Patriot League in caused turnovers per game (2.82) and was 10th in ground balls (3.65) a year ago. Five games into the season, he is averaging 2.40 caused turnovers per game to rank 9th nationally and 3.00 ground balls per game. 
• Standing between the pipes this season is Kasey Heath (So), who owns a 10.80 goals-against average and a 59.4 save percentage. He stands #1 in the country in saves per game, averaging 15.80
• Second-Team All-Patriot League faceoff specialist Sean Dow (Jr) has won 46 of the 90 (51.1) draws he has taken this spring, while Connor Riley (So) is 9 for 20 (45.0). While Dow ranks 6th in the league in faceoff winning percentage, he is 2nd in ground balls per game (4.80).

Historic Programs
• One of the oldest programs in the sport, Navy is in its 118th year of having a varsity men's lacrosse team. It is the 5th-oldest program in Div. I men's lacrosse. 
• Four of Navy's opponents this spring are among the sport's top 10 oldest, including this Friday's foe Lehigh who is in its 136th season and is the 2nd-oldest program.  
• Johns Hopkins, who visits Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium next Saturday (March 15) to play the Mids, is in its 138th season and is the oldest program. Additionally, Johns Hopkins is the only team to reach 1,000 wins (1,032).
• Army and Navy will meet in Annapolis on April 12 in what will be the 105th game in the series. It's the most games Navy has played against another opponent and the sport's 7th-longest rivalry.