ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The #5/5 Navy women's lacrosse team (7-0, 0-0 Patriot League) is set to open up Patriot League play on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. as the Midshipmen host Bucknell (4-2, 0-0 Patriot League) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
 
Additionally, the game will serve as Senior Day for the Midshipmen. Prior to the game, the Mids will recognize the senior class – Marina Bergin, Quinn Cramer, Maggie DeFabio, Anna Gotterup, Emma Kennedy, Morgan Lewis, Josie Mazzeo, Kat McAteer, Maura Murphy, Bella Paradiso, Avery Robertson, and Ava Yovino – for their efforts both on and off the field. Saturday's Senior Day contest is presented by First Command.
 
Navy is 15-2 (.887) in program history in Patriot League openers with an 8-1 (.889) mark when starting conference play at home.
 
The G.O.A.T.
In its last game, Navy defeated Jacksonville, 13-10. The victory gave head coach Cindy Timchal her 600th career win, making her the first Division I had coach – men's or women's – to win 600 career games.
 
She became the second women's lacrosse coach ever to hit the mark, joining The College of New Jersey (DIII) head coach Sharon Pfuger, who entered the 2026 season with 603 career wins and currently sits at 606 victories.
 
The hall of fame head coach began her career at Northwestern, amassing 76 wins in nine seasons and helping the Wildcats to five NCAA Tournament appearances. She then spent 16 years at Maryland, registering 260 victories with eight national championships to her credit. Timchal has spent the last 19 seasons as the Navy head coach, winning 264 games with eight NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
All-Time Series
The Mids and Bison meet for the 18th time on Saturday. Navy holds a 17-0 advantage in the series, including a 9-0 mark in Annapolis.
 
The two teams have meet on the lacrosse field each season except one, dating back to the Mids' inaugural season in 2008. The two teams did not play against one another in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, marking the first and only time the two teams did not meet during a season.
 
Last season, led by five-goal performances by Alyssa Chung and Mikayla Williams, #22 Navy improved to 2-0 in the Patriot League with a 17-6 road win over Bucknell at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa.
 
The last time the two teams met in Annapolis, the Mids posted a 21-6 victory over the Bison at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The game, which was presented by First Command, served as Senior Day for the Midshipmen. Offensively, Navy scored a season-high 21 goals with ten different Midshipmen finding the back of the net with five notching multiple scores, including four hat tricks. Defensively, Navy held its ninth opponent of the season to single-digit goals, limiting Bucknell to six goals total.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
The Navy women's lacrosse team improved to 7-0 on the season with a 13-10 win against Jacksonville on Tuesday. Tied 10-10 with 12 minutes to play, the Midshipmen used three goals by Alyssa Chung to claim a 13-10 victory over the Dolphins. The victory gave head coach Cindy Timchal her 600th career win, making her the first Division I had coach – men's or women's – to win 600 career games.
 
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 105 goals with 53 assists, while picking up 116 ground balls, winning 99 draw controls, and causing 55 turnovers.
 
Entering the weekend, Alyssa Chung, Ava Yovino, and Taylor Miles lead the team. Chung and Yovino pace the team with 31 and 30 points, respectively, while Miles is one point back with 29. Chung has a team-high 24 goals with seven assists for her 31 points, while Yovino has 13 scores and a team-best 17 helpers for her 30 points. Miles has 17 goals with 12 assists for 29 points.
 
Mikayla Williams and Emma Kennedy round out the Midshipmen's top five. Williams has 19 points on 14 goals and five assists, while Kennedy is one point back with 18 on 15 goals and three helpers. Against Jacksonville, Williams registered her fourth consecutive hat trick of the season.
 
Maggie DeFabio and Anna Gotterup have nine and eight points, respectively. DeFabio has eight goals and an assist for nine points, while Gotterup has eight points on three goals and five assists. Chloe Brown is two points behind with six points thanks to five goals and a helper. Bella Paradiso, who has scored goals in three consecutive games, has three points on three goals, while Caroline Gage follows with two goals. Grace Mitchell (1g), Rowan Kimmel (1a), and Kat McAteer (1a) have one point each.
 
Defensively, the Midshipmen have held their opponents to 8.57 goals per game. The Navy defense has held three opponents – Villanova (5 goals), High Point (6 goals), and South Florida (8 goals) – to single-digit goals.
 
The Mids have caused 55 of their opponents' 90 turnovers (61.1 percent). Yovino and Felicia Giglio lead the team with nine and seven caused turnovers. Chung, DeFabio, and Jaclyn Johns follow with five apiece, while Gage and Jalin Jenkins have four takeaways each.
 
Giglio and Yovino pace the team with 16 ground balls apiece, while DeFabio and Johns follow with 14 and 10, correspondingly. Gage has nine to round out Navy's top five in the category.
 
Giglio has played and started each game for Navy in the cage, working 403:20 minutes of action between the posts. The junior goalie has 52 of the Mids' 56 saves on the year with an 8.63 goals against average.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Angelina Price saw her first collegiate action against Villanova, while also taking some reps against High Point and South Florida. The rookie has posted four saves in just over 15 minutes of action (15:10). Sophomore Lila Stachowski saw her first collegiate action against HPU working the final 90 seconds at goal in the Mids' 14-6 victory.
 
In the circle, Maura Murphy boasts a team-high 43 draw wins. The senior notched her first double-digit draw performance against High Point, finishing with a game-high 14 draw wins. Yovino follows with 27 draws, while Kennedy adds 13 draw wins.
 
Scouting the Opposition
Bucknell enters the contest 4-2 with wins over Youngstown State, UMBC, St. Bonaventure and Rider and losses to Penn State and Arizona State.
 
Caleigh Cummiskey leads Bucknell in scoring with 23 goals. The freshman is tied for 22nd in the NCAA in total goals and 11th in goals per game (3.83). She is also tied for 32nd in points with 32 and is 13th in points per game (5.33).
 
Megan Krestinski leads the team in total assists with 14. The senior is tied for 41st in total assists and 28th in assists per game in the NCAA. Krestinski leads Bucknell in total points with 34 (20g 14a). She is tied for 39th in the NCAA in total goals and 24th in goals per game (3.33). The senior is tied for 22nd in the NCAA in points with 34 and 7th in points per game with 5.67.
 
Jess Leon leads the Bison in ground balls with 18 and caused turnovers with 10. She is tied for 17th in the NCAA in ground balls per game with three.
 
Alex Macutek and Gigi Abernethy lead Bucknell in draw controls with 11 each.
 
Bella Crowley is Bucknell's starting goalie. The junior has an overall 40.4 save percentage with a 12.33 goals against average. She has 44 saves and 65 goals against on the season.
 
Bucknell is ranked in several categories in the NCAA; 5th in shot percentage (.525), 8th in points per game (24), 9th in scoring offense (15.67), 13th in assists per game (8.33), 14th in ground balls per game (18), 35th in clearing percentage (.908), T-37th in scoring margin (3) and T-40th in caused turnovers per game (9).
 
National Rankings
The Navy women's lacrosse team remained #5 in all three national polls – the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division I Coaches Poll, the Inside Lacrosse KANE Women's Division I Media Poll, and the USA Lacrosse poll – for the second consecutive week.
 
Prior to their current ranking of fifth, the Midshipmen's highest IWLCA ranking – sixth – came in the final polls of the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Fifth is the highest in-season ranking for the Mids according to Inside Lacrosse. Navy finished the 2017 season in fourth in the final ILWomen poll after the Midshipmen's Final Four run.
 
The Midshipmen have been ranked in the top 10 according to the IWLCA 12 times, including the first weekly poll of the season (Feb. 9, 2026), which was the first time in the top 10 since the final poll of the 2018 season (ranked 6th on May 29, 2018).
 
Up Next
Following the game, Navy continues its three-game homestand on Tuesday, March 17 as the Midshipmen host Arizona State at 4:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and WNAV with live stats available throughout the game.