ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The #10 Navy women's lacrosse team (5-0) notched a 14-11 victory over #7 Florida (3-2) on Saturday morning at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The win ties for the second-highest ranked opponent that the Midshipmen have defeated in school history.
 
The Mids also beat #7 Penn in 2017 and later defeated #2 North Carolina to advance to the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship weekend.
 
The win over #7 Florida gives Navy a pair of victories over top 10 opponents, after the Midshipmen opened the season with a 12-10 win over #10 Virginia. It is the second time in program history that the Mids have defeated multiple top-10 opponents in the same season and first time since the 2017 Final Four run.
 
Eight different Midshipmen combined for Navy's 14 goals in the game. Ava Yovino led the way with six points on three goals and a team-high three assists. She was joined by Mikayla Williams who also netted a hat trick, finishing with three scores. Alyssa Chung and Emma Kennedy followed with two goals apiece, while Maggie DeFabio, Anna Gotterup, Taylor Miles, and Bella Paradiso scored one goal each. Chung followed Yovino with two assists, while Gotterup extend her assist streak to five straight games.
 
In the circle, the Mids gained extra possessions, winning the draw control battle, 18-9. The Gators held a 6-1 advantage in the draws through the first quarter before the Midshipmen won 17 of the next 20 draws over the final three quarters of play. Yovino led the team with seven draws with Maura Murphy following with six. Kennedy rounded out the draw wins for Navy with five.
 
"Fortunately, we had more offensive possessions, that allowed us to create opportunities on offense" head coach Cindy Timchal said. "Therefore, defensively, we were able to give up a couple of goals. I thought we needed to be spot on with the draw to have a chance. We just kept relying on the 'next play' mentality. We stuck with Maura and it gave her more confidence to continue to get the job done."
 
Defensively, Navy held the potent Florida offense to just 11 goals. The Midshipmen caused eight of the Gators' 13 turnovers on the day. Yovino paced the team with three caused turnovers with Chung, DeFabio, Landen Cain, Caroline Gage, and Felicia Giglio adding takeaways. Cain led the charge with three ground balls with DeFabio, Miles, and Jaclyn Johns picking up two GB apiece.
 
In goal, Giglio earned her fifth win of the season, working a complete game between the posts. The junior finished with eight stops to go along with her caused turnover and ground ball.
 
The Navy defense held Florida's Clark Hamilton, who entered the game fifth in the country with 4.50 goals per game, scoreless. The Mids limited her to just a pair of shots that were both stopped by Giglio.
 
"We didn't know how we were going to stop Clark," Timchal added. "She is an amazing player. Clark is the real deal. She is exceptional. She is one of one, but I am really proud of our team effort defensively. They can score very quickly, but we wanted to match their intensity and speed, which I feel like we did today."
 
For Florida, Gabbi Koury and Boo DeWitt led the team with four points apiece on three scores and an assist each. The Gators used a pair of goalies in the contest. Paige Crowther earned the start, working 22 minutes with four goals allowed and two saves. Maya Soskin entered the game in relief over the final 38 minutes of action with 11 saves and 10 goals allowed.
 
Navy opened the game with a goal by Chung to start the scoring. Florida responded with a 3-0 run to take a 3-1 lead. The Midshipmen used a goal from Yovino to trim the margin to one, but the Gators answered to take a 4-2 lead through one quarter.
 
In the second quarter, Yovino once again cut the margin to one, but UF was able to extend the lead back to two goals, 5-3. Chung converted a free-position opportunity to inch the Mids closer. Williams locked the game at five with her first score of the game. Miles gave the Mids their first lead since the opening goal of the game. Florida answered with the equalizer, but Yovino finished her first-half hat trick with the go-ahead goal before halftime, allowing Navy to take a 7-6 lead into intermission.
 
DeFabio wasted little time getting the scoring started in the third quarter, burying a shot into the back of the net 40 seconds into the period. The Gators trimmed the margin to one, 8-7, but back-to-back goals by Williams and Kennedy extended the Mids' lead to three, 10-7. Kennedy's goal gave the senior 100 points for her career. Navy was able to push the advantage to four as Paradiso scored her first goal of 2026. Following a Florida goal, Navy extended its lead to five, 13-8, with goals by Gotterup and Williams.
 
In the fourth quarter, the defenses for both teams keep the game 13-8 until Florida broke through with a score with 10:21 on the clock. Navy followed with a goal a minute later by Kennedy to regain a five-goal advantage. The Gators notched back-to-back scores over the next two minutes to trim the margin to 14-11 with 7:18 to play. The Navy offense was able to control the clock over the final half of the fourth quarter, while the Mids' defense kept the Gators out of the net to secure the 14-11 victory.
 
Up next, Navy travels to Tampa, Fla. to take on South Florida at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 7. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.