ANNAPOLIS, Md. – For the third time in program history and the first time since 2013, the #8 / #6 Navy women's lacrosse team is hosting the Patriot League Championship Tournament on Thursday and Saturday, April 30 and May 2 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
 
Competition in the semifinals begins as the top-seeded Midshipmen (16-1, 8-1 Patriot League) host No. 4-seed Bucknell (10-6, 5-4 Patriot League) at 3:00 p.m. with the second semifinal matchup between No. 2-seed Army (13-3, 8-1 Patriot League) and third-seeded Loyola (12-6, 7-2 Patriot League) following at 7:00 p.m.
 
Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Jason Knapp and Taylor Cummings handling the announcing. Live stats will be available for both games. Additionally, Navy's game will be aired on WNAV.
 
The winner of each game will meet in the Patriot League Championship on Saturday, May 2 at 3:30 p.m. in a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network.
 
Patriot League Tournament
Navy is making its 18th appearance in the Patriot League Tournament. The Midshipmen have qualified for the conference tournament each season since joining the Patriot League in 2008. The Mids are 24-10 (.706) in the tournament all-time with seven conference titles (2010, '11, '12, '13, '17, '18, '25).
 
The Midshipmen are hosting the Patriot League Championship Tournament for the third time in program history (2012, '13, '26) and the first time since 2013. Navy is 8-0 (1.000) all-time in the Patriot League Tournament at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
 
Navy is 13-3 (.813) all-time in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, winning eight of its last nine appearances in the semis. Navy played in 16 semifinal games, advancing to the final 13 times.
 
The winner of No. 1 seed Navy and No. 4 seed Bucknell advances to the championship game against the winner of No. 2 seed Army (13-3) and No. 3 seed Loyola (12-6). Navy is 7-6 (.538) all-time in Patriot League championship games.
 
All-Time Series
The Mids and Bison meet for the 19th time on Thursday and the first time in the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell is the only current member of the Patriot League that Navy has not played in the conference tournament.
 
The Midshipmen hold an 18-0 advantage in the series, including a 10-0 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.
 
Earlier this season, the two teams met at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Trailing by one early, Navy used a 9-0 run to take control of the game, opening Patriot League play with a 17-6 victory over Bucknell. Defensively, the Mids held the Bison to single-digit goals, while nine different Midshipmen combined to score Navy's 17 goals in the game.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
The Navy women's lacrosse team enters the week 16-1 on the season, including an 8-1 mark in the Patriot League. The Mids secured a share of the Patriot League Regular Season Title and the No. 1 overall season.
 
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 271 goals with 130 assists, while picking up 310 ground balls, winning 249 draw controls, and causing 153 turnovers. Additionally, Navy has held eleven (11) opponents this season to single digits, including eight conference foes.
 
Entering the week, Alyssa Chung, Taylor Miles, Emma Kennedy, Ava Yovino, and Mikayla Williams lead the team with 40 or more points apiece.
 
Chung paces the team with 90 points on a team-high 62 goals with 28 assists to her credit. The sophomore has registered 30 multi-goal games (38 games total) with 25 hat tricks, including multiple scores in all 18 regular-season Patriot League games played with 15 hat tricks.
 
Miles follows with 55 points on 38 goals and 17 assists, while Kennedy is next with 50 points with 43 goals and seven assists. Yovino boasts 48 points with Williams a point behind with 47 to round out the Midshipmen's top five. Yovino has 19 scores and a team-best 29 helpers for her 48 points, while Williams has 47 points thanks to 32 goals and 15 assists.
 
Maggie DeFabio, Anna Gotterup, Bella Paradiso, and Chloe Brown close out the Mids double-digit point scorers. DeFabio has 26 points on 19 goals and seven assists, while Gotterup follows with 18 points on a balanced 10 goals and eight assists. Paradiso has 17 points on 14 goals and three assists with Brown three points back with 10 goals and four assists for 14 points to close out the double-digit point scorers.
 
Kat McAteer adds nine points on a balanced five scores and four helpers, while Caroline Gage (5g 1a), Julia Frosch (2g 1a), and Rowan Kimmel (1g 2a) follow with six, three and three points, respectively. Kelsey Kirkeide, Sophia Neitzell, and Natalie O'Neill have two points apiece on a pair of goals each, while Maggie Borek and Zoe Ryan have notched two points each with one goal and one assist apiece. Sydney Beitler (1g), Landen Cain (1a), Jaclyn Johns (1a), Grace Mitchell (1g), and Lily Schmalz (1g) close out the scoring with one point each.
 
Defensively, the Midshipmen have held their opponents to 7.65 goals per game. The Navy defense has held eleven (11) opponents – Villanova (5 goals), High Point (6 goals), South Florida (8 goals), Bucknell (6 goals), Holy Cross (3 goals), Lehigh (6 goals), Boston University (5 goals), #14 Army (8 goals), Lafayette (1 goal), Colgate (7 goals), and American (5 goals) – to single-digit goals.
 
The Mids have caused 153 of their opponents' 269 turnovers (56.9 percent). Yovino leads the team with 22 caused turnovers, while Chung and Johns follow with 16 apiece. Felicia Giglio, DeFabio, and Gage close out the Mids double-digit takeaways with 14, 10, and 10, correspondingly. Kennedy and Miles add nine CT apiece with Cain and Jalin Jenkins adding eight each to close out the Mids' top 10 in the category.
 
Giglio leads the team with 44 ground balls with Yovino following with 36 ground ball pickups. DeFabio and Johns have 27 and 26, respectively, while Chung adds 24 to round out Navy's top five in the category. Gage (20), Cain (19), Kennedy (17), Jenkins (16), Schmalz (12), and Williams (12) close out Navy's double-digit ground balls.
 
Giglio has played and started each game for Navy in the cage, working 952:46 minutes of action between the posts. The junior goalie has 114 of the Mids' 123 saves on the year with a 7.68 goals against average and 48.3 save percentage.
 
Angelina Price has posted eight saves in just under 60 minutes of action (59:40), while Lila Stachowski registered her first collegiate save against Lafayette. Stachowski has logged nearly seven minutes (6:56) in three appearances, while Cam Rohner made her first collegiate appearance against the Leopards, recording a clean score sheet.
 
In the circle, Maura Murphy boasts a team-high 121 draw wins. The senior notched her first double-digit draw performance against High Point (14), while adding 11 draw wins against Lehigh, 12 at Lafayette, and 13 at Colgate. Yovino follows with 57 draws, while Kennedy and Williams add 20 draw wins apiece and Chung chips in 11.
 
Scouting the Opposition
The fourth seeded Bison enter the semifinals 10-6 overall and 6-4 in the Patriot League after its narrow first round win over the Crusaders. Bucknell advanced to the semis after holding onto a lead to defeat Holy Cross 14-13 in the first-round game and earn its second Patriot League Tournament win in program history.
 
The Bison have found home wins over Lafayette, Colgate, Youngstown State, UMBC, St. Bonaventure and Rider as well as road wins over American, Lehigh and Holy Cross (twice).
 
Caleigh Cummiskey leads the Bison in scoring with 47 goals, while Megan Krestinski leads Bucknell in assists with 27. Krestinski also leads the team in total points with 73 and draw controls with 29. Jess Leon leads Bucknell in ground balls with 46 and caused turnovers with 31.
 
Bella Crowley is the Bison starting goalie. She has played in and started 15 games for Bucknell and has recorded an overall save percentage of 40.3. She has 118 saves and 175 goals allowed for a goals against average of 12.04.
 
For her efforts, Krestinski was named to First Team All-Patriot League, while Leon and Cummiskey were named to the second team.
 
All-Patriot League
Seven members of the Navy women's lacrosse team were named to the 2026 All-Patriot League Teams announced Monday afternoon by the conference office. The Midshipmen tallied five first-team selections – Alyssa Chung (attack), Felicia Giglio (goalkeeper), Jaclyn Johns (defense), Mikayla Williams (midfield), and Ava Yovino (midfield) – while also claiming a pair of second-team honors – Maggie DeFabio (midfield) and Emma Kennedy (attack). Additionally, Giglio was selected as the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year.
 
It is the fifth consecutive season that Navy has had four or more first-team all-conference selections. Giglio officially becomes the first PL Goalkeeper of the Year in program history. She is the second Midshipmen goalie to earn a major award, joining Annie Foky ('15) who was named Defender of the Year in 2013. (The Patriot League recognized a Goalkeeper of the Year from 2005-10; it resumed in 2019).
 
Overall, 34 student-athletes made the two All-Patriot League squads, with 17 claiming first-team accolades and another 17 receiving a spot on the second team.
 
Nine (9) of the 10 Patriot League teams were represented on the all-conference list. Top seeds Navy and Army placed a League-high seven student-athletes on the two teams. Loyola followed with six selections, while Holy Cross had four players recognized. Boston University and Bucknell had three selections apiece, with American earning two spots on the teams. Colgate and Lehigh both had one representative.
 
Patriot League women's lacrosse head coaches voted on the All-League teams and major awards. They were prohibited from voting for their student-athletes or themselves.
 
Academic All-Patriot League
A pair of Midshipmen student-athletes were selected to the 2026 Women's Lacrosse Academic All-Patriot League Team on Wednesday afternoon, as announced by the conference office. Senior midfielder Maggie DeFabio and junior defender Jalin Jenkins were selected to the 15-member academic squad.
 
The Mids have had at least one player selected to the Academic All-Patriot League Team each season since 2011.
 
To be eligible for the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Patriot League awards, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or key player in his/her sport. Freshmen are not eligible for this honor.