ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Trailing 3-1 after one quarter, the #8 Navy women's lacrosse team (13-1, 5-1 Patriot League) outscored Army, 7-0, in the second quarter to take a lead it would not relinquish en route to a 14-8 victory over the Black Knights (10-3, 5-1 Patriot League) in the annual Star Game on Saturday afternoon in Annapolis. The game, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star series presented by USAA, drew a Navy women's lacrosse record crowd of 2,798 patrons to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
"The institution of Army-Navy, and what it means across the country and the world; we are proud to be a part of it," head coach
Cindy Timchal said after the game. "This all starts with Army-Navy football. It has generated so much love and enthusiasm for our football program. We just wanted to carry that across to women's lacrosse. To have this game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, which is a showcase for any great sporting event, but in particular for Navy women's lacrosse. We promoted this to a level where we thought people would come because of the excellence of Navy women's lacrosse and what the Army-Navy Game means to everyone.
"We just had to settle in a little bit," Timchal added about the Mids' performance. "That was key for us. Play Navy women's lacrosse. Play with love; play free; and play for each other. That is a testament to believing in and loving each other. It is our key theme. Even though we may get a little testy with each other, there is still love behind everything that we do."
Offensively, Navy tallied 14 goals on 31 shots. Seven different Midshipmen found the back of the net with three players notching multiple goals.
Alyssa Chung led the way with a career-high eight points on five goals and three assists. In 15 regular-season Patriot League games, the sophomore has recorded 83 points on 64 goals and 19 assists, notching multiple goals in all 15 games with 13 hat tricks to her credit.
Chung was joined by
Mikayla Williams and
Maggie DeFabio who added multiple scores. Williams finished with six points on three goals and three assists. Her first goal of the afternoon gave the junior 100 for her career. DeFabio finished with two goals in the contest, while
Anna Gotterup,
Emma Kennedy,
Taylor Miles, and
Bella Paradiso added scores. Similar to Williams, Kennedy's goal was the 100th of her career.
Chung and Williams combined for six of the Midshipmen's 10 assists in the game, while
Ava Yovino added a pair of helpers. Kennedy and
Jaclyn Johns closed out the assists for the Mids.
Defensively, Navy held it's eighth opponent to single digits. The Midshipmen improved to 195-3 (.985) when holding an opponent to single digits. It is the fifth Patriot League foe that the Midshipmen have held to single digits.
As a team, the Mids caused 14 of the Black Knights' 25 turnovers. Chung and Yovino led the way with three takeaways apiece, while
Caroline Gage,
Felicia Giglio, and
Tiana Griffin added two caused turnovers each. Giglio paced the team with four ground balls with
Landen Cain, Chung, Gage, Johns, and Kennedy picking up three GB apiece and Yovino adding two.
Giglio worked a complete game at goal for the Midshipmen. The junior notched six saves in a winning effort.
Maura Murphy joined Williams with four draw controls to lead the team. Chung picked up a pair of draw wins, while DeFabio rounded out the draws with one.
For Army, Brigid Duffy and Geneva Milch Cesoni led the Black Knights with three points apiece on two goals and an assist each. Paige Moretti added a pair of goals, while Chloe Garrett (2a) and Lily Valentini (1g 1a) added two points each. Kate Gallagher led Army with four ground balls, while Duffy led with a game-high seven caused turnovers. Sarah Chernik recorded a team-high four draw controls. At goal, Lindsey Serafine took the loss, surrendering 10 goals with six saves in just over 37 minutes of action (37:06). She gave way to Anderson Strange who worked the final 22:54 with four goals allowed and a pair of saves.
Army jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter. The Black Knights opened the scoring just nine seconds into the game. Williams countered with a goal to knot the game at 1-1, but back-to-back scores by Duffy put the visitors in front by two at the end of the first quarter.
Navy scored the next 10 goals, outscoring Army, 7-0 in the second quarter and continuing the run through the first 10 minutes of the second half. DeFabio scored consecutive goals to lock the game at 3-3. Williams converted a free-position opportunity to give the Midshipmen their first lead of the day. Defense turned into offense as Johns began a clear attempt, feeding Paradiso on a long pass that she buried in the back of the net to push the lead to 5-3. Sophomores Miles and Chung added scores to push the advantage to four. Kennedy was able to shovel a loose ball in front of the goal past the goalie for the final goal of the second quarter to put Navy in front 8-3. Williams continued the run in the third period with her third goal of the game. Chung scored back-to-back goals to put the Midshipmen in front 11-3. Army ended the run with a goal, but Chung countered to extend the advantage back to eight. The Black Knights were able to close out the third with a goal to close the margin to 12-5.
Army scored first in the fourth to cut the Navy lead to six, but Gotterup extended the margin back to seven with a goal. Following a Black Knight goal, Chung once again extended the advantage to seven. The visitors were able to score the final goal of the game to provide the final margin of 14-8.
Up next, Navy hits the road for a pair of Patriot League games. The Midshipmen travel to Easton, Pa. to take on Lafayette on Wednesday, April 15 (6:30 p.m.) before making the trip to Hamilton, N.Y. to play Colgate on Saturday, April 18 (11:00 a.m.). Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
