ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The #4/4 Navy women's lacrosse team (11-0, 3-0 Patriot League) travels to Baltimore to take on #22/21 Loyola (7-4, 3-1 Patriot League) in a top-25 Patriot League matchup at the Ridley Athletic Complex.
Saturday's game will air on
CBS Sports Network, with coverage beginning at 11:00 a.m. Jason Knapp will call play-by-play, with Rachael DeCecco providing analysis.
Live stats will also be available.
Navy enters the weekend with an 11-0 overall record – the best start in program history. It is the first time that the Midshipmen have opened the season with 11 consecutive victories, topping the previous best of nine straight wins to open the 2014 season.
Additionally, Navy is one of just two programs in the NCAA that are currently undefeated, joining the Maryland Terrapins who are also 11-0 on the season.
All-Time Series
The game marks the 21st meeting between the two teams in women's lacrosse. Loyola holds a 16-4 advantage in the series. Last season,
Mikayla Williams scored the golden goal with 16 seconds remaining in the first half of overtime to lift Navy to a 14-13 victory over top-seeded Loyola in the Patriot League Tournament Championship game.
The win snapped Loyola's 61-game winning streak against Patriot League opponents including both regular season and postseason. The win by Navy was the fourth in program history against Loyola, including three in the Patriot League Tournament Championship (2017, '18, '25).
Since joining the Patriot League for the 2014 season, Loyola is 115-5 (.958) against Patriot League opponents including a 96-1 record in regular-season conference contests. Navy is the ONLY Patriot League school to defeat Loyola multiple times, besting the Greyhounds in the conference tournament in 2017, 2018, and 2025, while also defeating Loyola in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. All four victories for Navy occurred at the Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore.
The Midshipmen picked up their first win over Loyola in the 2017 PL Championship (W, 15-5), snapping the Greyhounds' then 41-game winning streak against conference opponents.
The Mids followed the 2017 PL Championship win with a second consecutive conference title win in 2018 (W, 17-10), while also defeating the Greyhounds in the second round of the NCAA Tournament (W, 19-15) the same year.
Prior to the Mids winning the 2025 Patriot League Championship, the Greyhounds had won nine straight games in the series, including a 20-19 overtime decision in Annapolis earlier in the 2025 season. The last three meetings between the two teams have ended in overtime. In 2024, the two teams met in the conference championship with Loyola earning a 12-11 overtime victory in Baltimore.
Loyola head coach Jen Adams (Maryland '01) played collegiate lacrosse at the University of Maryland for current Navy head coach
Cindy Timchal. Under Timchal's direction, Adams and the Terrapins went 83-4 (.954) in four years with two perfect seasons and four National Championships. Adams was the first recipient of the Tewaaraton Trophy in 2001.
Scouting the Midshipmen
The Navy women's lacrosse team relied on a strong defensive effort to post an 11-6 victory over Lehigh on Wednesday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to improve to 11-0 on the season. It was the sixth time this season that the Midshipmen have held an opponent to single digits this season.
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 162 goals with 79 assists, while picking up 192 ground balls, winning 155 draw controls, and causing 90 turnovers.
Entering the weekend,
Alyssa Chung,
Taylor Miles,
Ava Yovino, and
Emma Kennedy lead the team with 30 or more points apiece. Chung paces the team with 48 points on a team-high 35 goals with 13 assists to her credit. Miles follows with 38 points on 24 goals and 14 assists, while Yovino is two points back with 36 thanks to 16 goals and a team-high 20 assists. Kennedy is second on the team with 26 goals, adding four assists for 30 points
Mikayla Williams rounds out the Midshipmen's top five with 28 points. The junior, who notched a hat trick in six straight games prior to Holy Cross, has 20 goals and eight assists.
Maggie DeFabio and
Anna Gotterup close out the Mids double-digit point scorers. DeFabio has 15 points on 12 goals and three assists, while Gotterup follows with 12 points on five goals and seven assists.
Bella Paradiso, who posted her first multi-goal game of her career against Holy Cross, has nine points on seven goals and two assists.
Chloe Brown and
Kat McAteer add six points apiece. Brown has five goals and an assist, while McAteer has a balanced three scores and three helpers.
Caroline Gage and
Rowan Kimmel have five and two points, respectively. Gage, who notched her first multi-goal performance at Holy Cross, has four scores and an assist, while Kimmel has one goal and an assist.
Landen Cain (1a),
Julia Frosch (1a),
Grace Mitchell (1g),
Natalie O'Neill (1g),
Zoe Ryan (1g), and
Lily Schmalz (1g) close out the scoring with one point each.
Defensively, the Midshipmen have held their opponents to 7.73 goals per game. The Navy defense has held six opponents – Villanova (5 goals), High Point (6 goals), South Florida (8 goals), Bucknell (6 goals), Holy Cross (3 goals), and Lehigh (6 goals) – to single-digit goals.
The Mids have caused 90 of their opponents' 170 turnovers (52.9 percent). Yovino and
Felicia Giglio lead the team with 12 and 11 caused turnovers, correspondingly.
Jaclyn Johns is next with nine, while DeFabio is two back with seven. Chung, Gage, Schmalz, and
Jalin Jenkins are tied with six apiece.
Giglio leads the team with 29 ground balls with Yovino following with 28 ground ball pickups. DeFabio has 19, while Gage has 13 and Cain and Johns add 12 apiece. Schmalz boasts 10 to close out Navy's double-digit ground balls.
Giglio has played and started each game for Navy in the cage, working 622:54 minutes of action between the posts. The junior goalie has 78 of the Mids' 84 saves on the year with a 7.80 goals against average and 49.1 save percentage.
Freshman goalkeeper
Angelina Price has posted six saves in just under 35 and a half minutes of action (35:36), while sophomore
Lila Stachowski saw her first collegiate action against High Point, working the final 90 seconds at goal in the Mids' 14-6 victory.
In the circle,
Maura Murphy boasts a team-high 74 draw wins. The senior notched her first double-digit draw performance against High Point (14), while adding 11 draw wins on Wednesday against Lehigh. Against the Mountain Hawks, Murphy eclipsed the 100-draw plateau. Yovino follows with 39 draws, while Kennedy adds 20 draw wins.
Scouting the Opposition
Loyola enters the week with a 7-4 overall record with an 3-1 mark in the Patriot League. The Greyhounds enter the game having won three straight games – Towson (W, 15-7), Boston University (W, 13-8), and American (W, 16-5).
Earlier this month, Loyola dropped an 18-10 decision to Army, snapping a streak of 94 consecutive regular season conference games without a loss. The Greyhounds enter the game against the Midshipmen 96-1 all-time in regular-season Patriot League games.
Loyola is led by Morgan Quade, Mim Suares-Jury, and Elisa Faklaris who boast 34, 31, and 30 points, respectively. Faklaris leads the team with 27 goals to go along with three assists for 30 points, while Quade has a team-high 21 helpers with 13 goals for a team-best 34 points. Suares-Jury has 22 goals and nine assists for 31 points. Lauren Perfetto (10g 16a) and Emma Talago (15g 8a) round out Loyola's top-five point scorers with 26 and 23 points.
Reilly Mahon leads the team with 14 ground balls, while Emily Scorcia paces the squad with nine caused turnovers. Mae Murphy has a team-high 132 draw controls.
The Greyhounds have used a pair of goalies this season. Makenzie Butler has played in nine games with six starts to her credit, posting a team-high 42 saves with 66 goals allowed in just under 405 minutes of action. Kennedy Buntrock has played in seven contests, earning five starts with 21 stops and 55 goals allowed in nearly 245 minutes of work between the pipes.
National Rankings
For the second consecutive week, the Navy women's lacrosse team is ranked fourth 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. It is the highest ranking ever for the Midshipmen.
Prior to claiming the #4 spot in Week 6 of the 2026 season, fifth (Weeks 4 and 5) was the highest in-season ranking in any poll for Navy. The Midshipmen have been ranked in the top 10 according to the IWLCA 14 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).
The Midshipmen began the season 16th in the preseason polls according to the IWLCA and the Inside Lacrosse, while opening the year at #14 in the USA Lacrosse preseason poll.
Loyola is also ranked in all three polls coming in at #22 according to the IWLCA; #21 by Inside Lacrosse; and #17 as said by USA Lacrosse.
Patriot League Athlete of the Week
The Patriot League announced its weekly honors and Navy junior
Felicia Giglio was tabbed Goalkeeper of the Week for the fifth time this season. Giglio helped lead Navy to a pair of victories on the week, defeating Arizona State (W, 11-10) and Holy Cross (W, 18-3) to improve to 10-0 – the best start in program history.
Giglio anchored a Navy defense that held a pair of opponents to just 13 goals (6.5 gpg), including holding Holy Cross to season-low three goals. It was the fifth time this season that the Midshipmen have held an opponent to single digits – the second Patriot League opponent. She led the Navy defense that was selected as one of LaxReference's DI Women's Lacrosse Stars for the week. The junior goalkeeper finished the week with 11 saves, eight ground balls, and four caused turnovers.
Up Next
Following the game, Navy is set to take on Boston University at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis on Saturday, April 4 at 11:00 a.m. The game is part of a doubleheader with the Navy men's lacrosse team who take on Holy Cross (3:00 p.m.). The women's lacrosse game will be the broadcast on ESPN+, aired on WNAV, and live stats will be available.
