ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 19 Navy women's lacrosse team (5-1) is set to take on Jacksonville (1-4) on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. at Rock Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
 
All-Time Series
The game between Navy and Jacksonville will mark the fourth meeting between the two programs. The Midshipmen lead the all-time series, 3-0 (1.000).
 
Navy claimed both meetings between the two teams in Annapolis, winning both games by a score of 13-12. The lone meeting between the two teams in Jacksonville was last season with the Mids claiming a 17-9 victory over the Dolphins.
 
The two teams first met in April of 2013. Jasmine DePompeo scored the game-winning goal in the sudden-victory second overtime as Navy downed Jacksonville, 13-12, on Senior Day at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Mids overcame an 11-7 second-half deficit with a 5-0 run before the Dolphins scored the final goal of regulation to force overtime. After a scoreless period-and-a-half of overtime, Navy's Lindsay Rheiner controlled the draw to start the second three-minute stanza of double overtime. Loren Generi received the ball and sent DePompeo on a curl around the back of the cage and the senior co-captain scored with 2:24 remaining to give Navy the win.
 
In March of 2023, the Midshipmen and Dolphins met once again in Annapolis. In a game that featured seven ties and five lead changes, Navy edged No. 19 Jacksonville, 13-12, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Midshipmen used career games by Leelee Denton and Emma Richardell to earn their second victory over a ranked opponent this season. Denton led the team offensively, notching a career-high six goals that included the game-winning goal, while Richardell finished with a career-best 11 saves with eight stops in the second half.
 
Last season, No. 16 Navy posted a 17-9 victory over Jacksonville at Rock Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Led by a five-goal performance by Tori DiCarlo, four different Midshipmen finished the game with hat tricks, while the Mids' defense held their sixth opponent of the season to single digit goals.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy improved to 5-1 on the season, recording a 12-8 win over High Point on Sunday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. Tied 7-7 through three quarters, the Midshipmen used a 5-0 run to take control and secure the victory over the Panthers. Sophomore goalkeeper Felicia Giglio finished the game with 11 saves as the Mids held HPU to single-digit goals, while Navy got into a groove offensively in the final quarter of play to secure the win.
 
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 89 goals with 34 assists, while picking up 108 ground balls, winning 93 draw controls, and causing 50 turnovers.
 
Entering the weekend, Emily Messinese leads the team with 26 points on a team-high 17 goals and a team-best nine assists. She is followed by Emma Kennedy with 18 points on 16 goals and two assists. Alyssa Chung and Mikayla Williams are tied for third on the squad with 15 points apiece. After a four-goal performance against High Point, Chung has 13 goals to go along with two assists for her 15 points, while Williams has a relatively balanced nine goals and six assists for her 15 points. Ava Yovino and Tori DiCarlo round out Navy's double-digit point scorers with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Yovino has eight goals and five helpers for 13 points, while DiCarlo has nine goals and three assists for her 12 points.
 
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 two points on a pair of 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 50 of its opponents 86 turnovers, including 17 unsuccessful clear attempts. Giglio leads the team with 10 caused turnovers with Jaclyn Johns adding eight takeaways. Chung follows with five caused turnovers with Grace Peterson, DeFabio, Messinese, and Yovino notching four apiece. Jalin Jenkins and Williams have three each.
 
Yovino leads the team with 15 ground balls with Giglio and DeFabio following with 14 and 11, respectively. Messinese and Williams have nine ground balls each with Chung and Johns adding seven GB apiece. Jenkins has six with Caroline Gage, DiCarlo, and Peterson winning five ground balls each.
 
Giglio leads the team with 46 saves in 348:29 minutes of action, while adding 10 caused turnovers and 14 ground balls. The sophomore goalkeeper has three consecutive games with double-digit stops, registering 11 saves against Harvard, 10 at No. 11 Virginia, and 11 against High Point. Emma Richardell has registered two saves in 11 and a half minutes of action.
 
Alyssa Daley leads all players with 45 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 313 career draws.
 
Messinese has chipped in 20 while Williams has won 15 draws. Yovino has added three draw controls with Chung, Johns, Miles, Murphy, and Paradiso also being credited with a draw victory.
 
Scouting the Opposition
Jacksonville enters the game coming off of its first victory of the year. The Dolphins earned their first win of the season in decisive fashion, dismantling the Davidson Wildcats, 14-6, at Rock Stadium. JU set new season bests for goals scored and fewest goals allowed to improve to 1-4 on the year.
 
The Dolphins are led by Shae Hagans who has a team-high 12 points thanks to a team-best nine goals and three assists. She is followed by Ainsley Scruggs who is second on the squad with eight points on six goals and a pair of helpers. Maeve Brennan leads JU with five assists and is tied for third on the team with six points.
 
Maggie Cuddy leads the defense with a team-high 12 caused turnovers to go along with a team-best 22 ground balls. Brookelynn Hodgin has played and started all five games for Jacksonville at goal, recording 38 saves with 49 goals allowed for a 43.7 save percentage and an 11.74 goals allowed average.
 
Abby Moran has 35 draw controls this season to lead the Dolphins, while Kaila Stasulli is second with 19 draw wins.
 
Giglio Named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week
The Patriot League announced its weekly women's lacrosse awards and Navy sophomore Felicia Giglio was selected as the conference's Goalkeeper of the Week. Giglio helped lead Navy to a 2-0 record on the week, posting an upset victory over No. 11 Virginia (W, 14-12) and notching a 12-8 win over High Point.
 
The sophomore goalkeeper recorded 21 saves, while allowing 20 goals for a 51.2 save percentage. She notched back-to-back games with double-digit saves, finishing with 10 stops in Navy's upset road victory over No. 11 Virginia and tying a career high with 11 stops in Navy's win against High Point. Giglio anchored a Navy defense that held High Point – who scored 21 goals in its last game – to just eight goals on the day.
 
Additionally, she held her two opponents to two or fewer goals in four of eight quarters, including holding the Cavs scoreless in the fourth quarter.
 
National Rankings
The Navy women's lacrosse team is currently ranked in all the three national polls. The Midshipmen are No. 19 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll rankings this week, while coming in at No. 18 in the Inside Lacrosse Media poll. Additionally, the Mids are No. 19 according to USA Lacrosse.
 
In its history, Navy has been ranked 97 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 Jacksonville, Navy continues its road swing in Gainesville, Fla. as the Mids take on No. 9 Florida (3-2) on Wednesday, March 12 at 1:00 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.