Setting the Stage
• Opening Draw: One of the most storied rivalries in college athletics will take center stage this Saturday when Navy (7-4, 3-2 Patriot League) travels to West Point to battle #15 Army (8-3, 3-2 Patriot League) in the series' 106th meeting. Faceoff is set for 2:30 pm at Michie Stadium. Navy is led by Joe Amplo, who has put together a 50-37 record in his 7 seasons at the helm of the Mids' program, while Army's Joe Alberici has posted a 192-116 record in 21 seasons as the Black Knights' head coach.  Saturday's contest is part of the year-long Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.
• Follow the Action: Saturday's contest will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Dave Ryan and four-time All-American Ryan Powell calling the action. Additionally, the game will be carried live on 1430 WNAV with Joe Miller on the call. Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.)

What They're Talking About
• Navy's 13.82 scoring average is its best since 1978 when the Mids averaged 14.92 (209 G, 14 gms).
• Alec Gregorek (So / A) has scored multiple goals in all 11 contests this spring. That mark is a school record for most consecutive multiple-goal games in a single season. Joe Bossi previously held the record when he rattled off 10 in a row en route to Navy's National Championship appearance against Syracuse in 2004.
• Behind a career-high 8-point performance against Holy Cross last Saturday, Mac Haley (Sr / A) became just the 3rd Navy player since 2000 to reach the 40-point mark in a season multiple times in a career. Ian Dingman achieved it all 4 years (40 in 2003, 62 in 2004, 44 in 2006, 42 in 2007) and Jon Birsner did it 3 times (40 in 2004, 42 in 2005, 54 in 2006).
• Haley (46 pts) needs just 4 more points to become the Mids' 1st 50-point scorer since 2016 when Patrick Keena finished the year with 55 points (24-31).
• Haley (46 pts) and Gregorek (41) are Navy's 1st 40-point tandem since Ryan Wade (20-28=48) and Christian Daniel (31-12=43) did it in 2019.
• With 24-career points (12 G, 12A), AJ Marsh (Jr / D) is Navy's record holder for points scored by a long pole. He has scored 5 goals and dealt out 5 assists this spring and has a remarkable active streak of a goal or a point in each of the last 7 games.
• Winning 11 of his 18 draws last weekend against Holy Cross, Zach Hayashi (Jr / FO) pulled even with Chris Pieczonka (2002-05) for 2nd on the Mids' all-time faceoff wins leader board with 363. 
• Dating back to last spring, Navy has won 7-consecutive games when leading at the half, including 5 this season. Under Joe Amplo, the Mids are 37-4 when leading at the half.
• During the Joe Amplo era, Navy has lost just 2 games when holding its opponent to 9 or fewer goals. The Mids are 32-2 when achieving that feat since 2020 and 3-0 this season. 
• Navy has won at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title 8 times (2004-05-06-07-08-15-16-18) since 2004.

Scouting Army
• In his 21st year leading the Army lacrosse program, Joe Alberici has led the Black Knights to an 8-3record this spring, including a 3-2 mark in the Patriot League. 
• Army has wins over UMass (14-8), Rutgers (11-9), Yale 12-6), Michigan (13-11), Mercer (16-7), Holy Cross (13-5), Lehigh (14-11) and Bucknell (14-8). 
• The Black Knights won their first 6 games of the season before Lafayette stunned Army 10-9 in Easton, Pa. It was the Leopards' 1st win over Army in program history. That loss was the 1st of 3-consecutive losses by the Black Knights, as they dropped a 10-8 decision to Boston U., followed by a 12-11 loss to North Carolina. They have bounced back with back-to-back league wins over Lehigh and Bucknell.
• Four different players have reached the 30-point milestone for the Black Knights, including Evan Plunkett (Sr / M) who leads the team with 40 points on 16 goals and 24 assists. Gunnar Fellows (Sr / A) has amassed 35 points on a team-high 25 goals and 10 assists, while Hill Plunkett (So / A) has 33 points on 21 goals and 12 assists and Brayden Fountain (So / A) has 30 points on 23 goals and 7 assists. 
• A hallmark of the Academy teams, Army's defense is once again stingy, allowing just 8.82 goals per game which stands #10 in the country and #1 in the Patriot League. John Sullivan (Sr / D) leads the team with 17 caused turnovers this spring, while Keagan Treacy (Sr / D) is 2nd with 10. 
• All-American Sean Byrne (Sr) has once again been stellar in goal for the Black Knights where he has produced an 8.73 goals-against average and a 59.7 save percentage. His GAA is 7th best in the country and his save percentage is 2nd best. He leads the Patriot League in both categories.
• Army's Will Coletti was arguably the best faceoff specialist in the country last year, but he has graduated. Robert Simone (Jr) has taken the bulk of the faceoffs, winning 46.2 percent (90-195) of his draws, while Caleb Caldwell (Fr) has won 29 of his 59 faceoffs (49.2).

Army-Navy Series
• Navy owns a 63-39-3 series advantage and has won 20 of the last 33 contests in the series, including 6 of the last 12.
• The Mids also own a 58-36-3 advantage in Star Games, winning 17 of the last 27 including 6 of the last 10.
• The Mids lead the series in West Point 30-18-2, winning 3 of the last 4 Star Games played at Michie Stadium (2016, 11-10 OT / 2018, 9-8 / 2022, 12-11 OT ... lost in 2024, 13-8).
• In its 105-game history, Army and Navy have met twice in a season on just 7 previous occasions. In 1978 and '81, the two also met in the NCAA Tournament. The two have met in the Patriot League Tournament 6 times -  2005, '06, '07, '10, '15 and '16.
• Navy has scored 8 or more goals in 30 of the last 38 contests against Army. However, the Mids have reached double figures just 6 times in the last 20 meetings. Navy has held Army to single digits in 15 of the 27 games since joining the league in 2004.  
• The 2021 Army-Navy game was a welcomed return to a series that had seen the two programs meet for 87-consecutive years, the longest continuous lacrosse series between Navy and another team. In March of 2020, the world as we knew it would be put on pause and for the first time since 1932, there would not be an Army-Navy lacrosse game. 
• The series returned in 2021 with the Mids scoring a 9-4 win  in Annapolis in what was Navy head coach Joe Amplo's first game in the storied rivalry.
• The 2022 game was a thriller at West Point. Senior co-captain Jack Sweeney cashed in on his lone appearance of the game, as the extra-man sniper scored the game-winning goal 58 seconds into overtime to lead Navy to a 12-11 victory over #6 Army at Michie Stadium. Army was the highest-ranked opponent Navy had defeated since beating #3 Yale 13-10 in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. 

The Sport's Most Historic Rivalries
• With one of the most storied programs in the sport of lacrosse, Navy has traditionally played 3 rivalry games that stand among the nation's longest.
• Army and Navy have met 105 times, marking the 7th-longest rivalry in college lacrosse. Navy leads the series 63-39-3.
• Also appearing on the list of longest rivalries are the Navy-Maryland and Navy-Johns Hopkins series. 
• The Navy-Johns Hopkins have met 95 times which is the 14th-longest series. After a two-year hiatus due to scheduling and another two due to the COVID pandemic, the Mids and Blue Jays rekindled their rivalry in March of 2022 in Baltimore. Navy scored an historic victory (11-10), defeating Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field for the first time since 1969. The Mids earned a 10-9 overtime win against the Blue Jays on their home field in 2024, marking the first time Navy has defeated Hopkins in Baltimore in back-to-back games since 1963 (10-5) and 1965 (15-6). 
• The Mids have played Maryland 94 times, which is tied for the 15th-longest rivalry. The two programs, however, have not met since 2019.
• Cornell-Hobart is the longest-running series in college lacrosse with the two teams meeting 143 times. The Big Red defeated the Statesmen 19-8 on Feb. 24.