ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 20 Navy women's lacrosse team (9-4, 4-1 Patriot League) is set for its service academy showdown with No. 24 Army (9-2, 4-1 Patriot League) on Saturday, April 12 at 2:30 p.m. at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y. in the annual Star Game, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA. The game between the Mids and Black Knights will be the broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
 
Heading into the weekend, Army holds a slight 12-11 lead in the 2024-25 Star Series with three Star competitions remaining. The final Army-Navy contests are: men's lacrosse (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. in Annapolis), men's tennis (Saturday, 1:00 p.m. in West Point), and women's lacrosse (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. in West Point).
 
Since 1978-79, Navy has posted a 40-4-2 record in the annual Star Series.
 
All-Time Series
The game marks the 12th meeting between the two teams and the seventh time the two teams will meet for the Star. Navy holds an 8-3 (.727) overall record against Army, while the Mids are 4-2 (.667) in Star Games against the Black Knights. The first women's lacrosse Star Game was played in 2018.
 
Navy opened the all-time series with six straight victories, including claiming the first three Star Games (2018, '19, '21). Army had won three of four meetings, including back-to-back Star competitions (2022, '23), prior to the Midshipmen's 17-11 victory last season.
 
The all-time series began in 2016 with the Midshipmen claiming an 11-5 win in West Point. The following year, Navy posted a 22-7 victory in Annapolis.
 
The first Star Game came in 2018 with the Mids recording a 20-7 win over the Black Knights in West Point. The following year, Navy earned a Star victory at home with a 21-8 win at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Later in 2019, the two teams met again in the Patriot League Tournament with Navy notching a 20-10 win in the semifinals to advance to the conference title game.
 
In 2021, Navy had a three-week ROM (restriction of movement) due to the COVID-19 pandemic with no games or practice prior to taking on Army. Despite a slow start, the Mids rallied for the final three goals of the game to post a 13-12 victory in West Point.
 
Army claimed its first Star in the series in 2022, posting a 14-9 win over Navy in Annapolis. The Midshipmen were able to avenge the loss with a 16-6 win later that season in the Patriot League Tournament in Baltimore.
 
The two teams met twice during the 2023 season with the Black Knights winning each contest. Army earned a 15-11 Star win in West Point. The two teams once again met in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. Navy was edged 12-11 in double overtime to No. 15 Army. The game was the first overtime contest between Army and Navy and it was the second multi-overtime game in Patriot League Tournament history.
 
Behind a total team effort, Navy defeated Army, 17-11, in Annapolis in the 2024 Star Game. The Mids used timely scoring, solid defense, and domination in the draw circle to earn their first Star since 2021.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Maggie DeFabio, Alyssa Chung, and Mikayla Williams combined for 14 goals as No. 22 Navy posted a 19-8 victory over Holy Cross last Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. DeFabio notched a career-high with six goals in the game, which was presented by USAA, while Chung and Williams added four scores apiece to lead the Midshipmen. Navy enters the weekend 9-4 overall and 4-1 in the Patriot League.
 
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 201 goals with 82 assists, while picking up 215 ground balls, winning 218 draw controls, and causing 96 turnovers.
 
Entering the weekend, Emily Messinese leads the team with 50 points on 33 goals and a team-best 17 assists. The senior team captain has seven hat tricks this season and 31 career hat tricks, which is tied with Jasmine DePompeo ('13) for seventh-most in program history. Messinese is three hat tricks back of Kathy Young ('13) for sixth in school history.
 
Messinese is followed by Chung and Williams who have 48 and 44 points, respectively. Chung has the team-lead in goals scored with 40, while adding eight assists for 48 points. The freshman leads Navy with 29 points (5.8 per game) on a team-best 23 goals (4.6), while adding six assists (1.2) in five Patriot League games. Williams has 32 goals and 12 helpers for 44 points, scoring at least one goal in every game this season with eight multi-goal games, including five hat tricks.
 
Emma Kennedy is fourth on the team with 31 points. The junior has 26 goals and five assists in 13 games this season. Tori DiCarlo and DeFabio are tied with 22 points apiece. DiCarlo has 22 points on 17 goals and five assists, while DeFabio has 13 goals and nine helpers for her 22 points. Taylor Miles and Ava Yovino close out Navy's 20-point scorers. Miles has 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points with Yovino registering 20 points on 10 goals and 10 assists.
 
Eight additional Midshipmen have registered points during the season. Lola Leone (5g 2a) has seven points, while Maura Murphy adds four points on four scores. Chloe Brown and Kat McAteer are tied with three points apiece, each netting three goals on the year. Caroline Gage has two points on a pair of goals, while Anna Gotterup has two points on a goal and an assist and Bella Paradiso has two points on a couple of assists. Grace Peterson closes out Navy's point scorers with one point on an assist.
 
Defensively, Navy has caused 96 of its opponents 179 turnovers (53.6 percent), including 37 unsuccessful clear attempts. DeFabio leads the team with 14 caused turnovers, while Felicia Giglio and Jaclyn Johns follow with 13 caused turnovers apiece. Yovino adds 10 takeaways, while Chung boasts eight. Messinese and Peterson have seven CTs each with Jalin Jenkins and Williams adding five caused turnovers apiece.
 
Giglio leads the team with 36 ground balls with Yovino following with 27 and DeFabio picking up 22. Messinese, Williams, Peterson, and Johns follow with 16, 15, 14, and 13 GB, respectively, with Chung and Jenkins rounding out the Mids' double-digit ground balls with 11 each.
 
Giglio has notched 102 saves in 743 and a half minutes of action in 13 games played. The 102 saves ties her season total from a year ago during the 19-game season. The sophomore goalkeeper has six double-digit save performances, including four against ranked opponents – 10 at No. 7 Loyola (2024); 10 at No. 11 Virginia (2025); 11 at No. 6 Florida (2025); and 12 vs. No. 17 Loyola (2025). Five of Giglio's six double-digit save performances have come in the last 10 games she has played. Emma Richardell has logged 41 and a half minutes of action in six games with seven saves and a 58.3 save percentage.
 
Alyssa Daley leads all players with 128 draw victories. Against Boston, she finished the game with 19 of Navy's 21 draw controls, besting the previous school record of 18 draws that was set by Reagan Roelofs ('22) against Army in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament in 2019.
 
With 16 draws against Holy Cross, the draw specialist has six double-digit draw performances this season and 18 in her Midshipmen career. Daley surpassed Roelofs (390 draws) for second in program history in career draws. The senior now has 396 in her career and is four (4) draw controls shy of becoming just the second player in program history with 400 or more draws, joining Loren Generi ('15) who finished her career with 493.
 
Messinese has chipped in 37 draw controls while Williams has won 31 draws.
 
Scouting the Opposition
Army enters the weekend 9-2 overall. The Black Knights are tied with the Midshipmen with a 4-1 record in Patriot League play. Army is currently on a four-game winning streak, defeating Lehigh (W, 19-8), No. 4 Stanford (W, 12-9), Lafayette (W, 21-2), and American (W, 16-13).
 
The Black Knights are led by Allison Reilly and Brigid Duffy. The duo both boast 60-plus points on the year with Reilly leading the squad with 67 points on 38 goals and a team-high 29 assists, while Duffy has a team-best 44 goals to go along with 18 helpers.
 
In addition to leading the team in goals, Duffy paces Army with 31 ground balls, 67 draw controls, and 24 caused turnovers. Sarah Chernik follows Duffy with 44 draw controls, while Meghan Pedrani is second on the team with 16 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers.
 
Lindsey Serafine has logged a majority of minutes between the posts at goal for Army. She has 73 saves with 85 goals allowed for a 46.2 save percentage and an 8.68 goals against average in nearly 587 and a half minutes
 
National Rankings
The Navy women's lacrosse team is currently ranked in two of the three national polls. The Midshipmen are No. 20 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll rankings this week, while coming in at No. 22 in the Inside Lacrosse Media poll. Additionally, the Mids are receiving votes according to USA Lacrosse.
 
In its history, Navy has been ranked 102 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 #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 #17 and finishing the season 20th.
 
Army enters the weekend ranked No. 24 according to the IWLCA, No. 20 according to Inside Lacrosse, and No. 18 according to USA Lacrosse.
 
Chung Repeats as Patriot League Rookie of the Week
The Patriot League announced its weekly women's lacrosse honors and for the fourth consecutive week Navy freshman Alyssa Chung was selected as the conference's Rookie of the Week. It is the fifth time this season that Chung has earned the award.
 
The rookie helped lead Navy to a 19-8 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday, finishing with six points on four goals and a pair of assists. She continued her hot play in the conference, notching her fifth Patriot League game with four or more goals.
 
Up Next
Following the game with Army, the Midshipmen travel to Bethlehem, Pa. for a midweek game at Lehigh on Wednesday, April 16 at 6:00 p.m. at Frank Banko Field. The game between the Mids and Mountain Hawks will be the broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.