WEST POINT, N.Y. —  The 15th-ranked Army men's lacrosse team (9-3 / 4-2 Patriot League) used an 8-1 run to break free of the Mids en route to a 14-9 victory over Navy (7-5 / 3-3 Patriot League) in the annual Star Game played Saturday afternoon at Michie Stadium. The game attracted 15,156 fans on a sunny afternoon in New York, marking the largest crowd n Div. I lacrosse this season and the third-largest crowd in Army-Navy men's lacrosse history.

"They (Army) outplayed us," said seventh-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "They came out aggressive and took control at the faceoff X. We just couldn't get into a rhythm offensively and they forced us into taking some mediocre shots. I thought the defense played better than it had been, but when you play defense that long and that often, it's tough. They had a great game plan and they executed it."

Six players accounted for Navy's 9 goals, including Nick Golini (Jr / M / Annapolis, Md.) who finished with a career-high 3 goals, while Jack Flaherty (Sr / A / Massapequa, N.Y.) also pitched a multi-goal game with 2 scores. Meanwhile, George Vlahos (So / San Francisco, Calif.) made his second-consecutive start in goal where he made a career-high 15 saves. 

Army was led by hat tricks from Hill Plunkett with 4, Evan Plunkett wtih 3 and Brayden Fountain with 3. Sean Byrne, ranked No. 2 in the country in save percentage, recorded 13 saves between the pipes. Meanwhile, Robert Simone had perhaps his best performance of the year at the faceoff X where he won 14 of the 23 draws he took in the contest.

Navy was quick to take the early lead on the scoreboard as Flaherty took advantage of an aggressive defender, breezing past not one, but two defenders to stick his shot in the back of the cage just 41 seconds into the contest.

Army answered with back-to-back goals by Hill Plunkett to give the Black Knights a 2-1 advantage with just over 4 minutes elapsed in the contest.

Navy stacked together a pair of goals to retake the lead. Alec Gregorek (So / A / Wading River, N.Y.) netted his 35th goal of the season, using a swim move to part two defenders and get his hands free to send his shot past Byrne's ankles. Flaherty scored his second of the day with 8:20 remaining, sweeping from the top left side of the field to the middle to give the Mids a 3-2 advantage.

A goal by Fountain with 7:00 left in the opening quarter sparked a 5-0 run by the Black Knights that spilled into the second quarter to take a 7-3 advantage.

After a nearly 17-minute drought, Golini gave the Mids a much-needed goal, while Navy's defense held the Black Knights scoreless for the final 7 minutes of the half to cut the deficit to 3 (7-4) going into the break.

Army outscored Navy 3-1 in the third frame with Golini scoring with 44.5 seconds remaining in the quarter. A flag was thrown as Golini's shooting arm was being held by an Army defender, however the third-year player was able to get free and switch shooting hands to place his shot above Byrne's shoulder.

The Black Knights pushed their lead back up to 6 (11-5) behind Fountain's second goal of the game, but Navy scored back-to-back goals by Cody Collier (Fr / A / Glen Burnie, Md.) and Golini to get within 4 (11-7) with 6:12 remaining in the contest. That would be as close as the Mids would come, however, as Army outscored Navy 3-2 down the stretch to close out the victory.
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Navy returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Bethlehem, Pa. to battle Lehigh (5-7, 2-4 Patriot League). Faceoff is slated for 12-Noon at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+, while the radio broadcast will be carried on 1430 WNAV with Joe Miller on the call.

### Go Navy ###