ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  Sophomore William Goers (A / Chester, Md.) scored a career-high six goals, while senior co-captain Mac Haley (A / Shady Side, Md.) finished with two goals and five assists to lead the Navy men's lacrosse team (2-1, 0-0 Patriot League) to a 19-12 victory over a scrappy VMI (0-3) squad Tuesday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

A slow start by the Midshipmen proved costly early on as VMI scored just 45 seconds into the contest and pushed its lead to three less than four minutes into the game.

Navy, however, kept its composure and a transition goal that started with a Jack Ponzio (So / M / Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) caused turnover and ended with a Josh Nagy (So / SSDM / Westminster, Md.) goal sparked a 6-0 run by the Mids. Four different players scored goals during the run, including Goers, who scored 3 of his team-high 6 goals during that stretch.

Meanwhile, after the Mids held the Keydets scoreless for 10 minutes, Annapolis native  and VMI middie Tyler Hicks fired in the final goal of the quarter, trimming Navy's lead to two (6-4).

Navy went back up by three when Goers scored his fourth goal of the game and the third in a row for Navy less than two minutes into the quarter. 

VMI answered by scoring two in a row, including a spectacular goal by goalkeeper Adam Norris. Norris, who took a shot earlier in the contest, hurled his shot from just in front of his own cage to beat the ride and found the back of the net that was left vacant due to the 10-man ride. Dayton Bagwell then scored in transition to close to within a goal a 7-6 with 6:53 remaining in the quarter. 

Navy fought back and scored back-to-back goals 40 seconds apart, as Haley fed Aydan DiRocco (So / M / Haverford, Pa.) and Alec Gregorek (So / A / Wading River, N.Y.) to push Navy's lead back to three with under four minutes remaining in the frame. The assist to Gregorek marked Haley's 100th-collegiate point, as he became the 39th Navy player to reach that milestone.

VMI would score the final goal of the half when Beau Durkin came up with a loose ball 8 yards in front of the Navy cage and quickly fed Bagwell for the goal to make the score 9-7 at the break.

Navy scored seven of the next eight goals to take control the game and score the win at home.

Haley paced the team with his career-high seven-point performance which marked the most points by a Navy player since Xavier Arline's seven points against Hofstra on Feb. 11, 2023. Meanwhile, the five assists by Haley were the most by a Navy player since Christian Daniel dealt out five against Loyola on April 17, 2021. Haley stands 33rd on Navy's career scoring list alongside Billy Looney (103 / 2004-07) with 103 points and is just one behind Jack Ray (104 / 2015-18). Meanwhile, with 49 assists, he moved into a tie for 20th on the Mids' all-time assists leader board alongside Greyson Torain (49 / 2016-19). He needs just one more assist to become just the 20th player in program history to reach 50 for his career.

Goers put 9 of his 12 shots on goal to score six on the evening as he became the first Navy player with six goals since Henry Tolker scored six against Loyola on Feb. 7, 2023.

Gregorek turned in a career-high five points, scoring two goals and adding three assists. All said, 11 different players scored goals for the Mids, who began substituting liberally midway through the third quarter.

Navy's ride was once again stellar, as VMI was 20 for 30 in the clearing game and turned the ball over 21 times. 

Rookie Ethan Train (Sharon, Mass.) made his first-career start in goal, giving way to 10 goals and making five stops in 45 minutes of action.

Navy won the faceoff battle 20-15 with five different players taking draws during the contest. Colin Shadowens (10-15 / Sr / Severna Park, Md.) and Zach Hayashi (8-15 / Jr / North Potomac, Md.) were responsible for the bulk of the faceoffs.


On the flip side, Bagwell had himself a night, contributing on eight of VMI's 12 goals. He scored a career-high seven goals on nine shots, while adding an assist. Durkin, meanwhile, scored three goals and added a pair of assists.

Goalkeeper Adam Norris made 16 saves, while allowing all 19 Navy goals.

Navy will be back in action on Saturday when it plays host to #11/10 Penn State. Faceoff is slated for 12:00 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with Joe Miller calling the action on ESPN+ and 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV.

### Go Navy ###