ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The #8 / #6 Navy women's lacrosse team (17-1) advanced to the Patriot League Tournament Championship Game with an 18-8 victory over No. 4-seed Bucknell (10-7) on Thursday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
The championship game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 2 on CBS Sports Network. The Mids will play the winner of the second semifinal game between second-seeded Army and third-seeded Loyola.
The Midshipmen advanced to the title game for the 14th time in program history and the fourth time in the last five seasons. Navy improved to 9-0 all-time in Patriot League Tournament games played in Annapolis.
"This is the time of year that nothing is safe," head coach
Cindy Timchal said after the game. "You play all the way through to the very end. For Navy women's lacrosse to host, it was a great feeling. I give Bucknell a lot of credit. They came in real fiery and tough. I am proud of the team for coming through with a decisive victory. I am proud of the players. They showed a lot of love and toughness today. We now have to dial it in and get ready for a tough game on Saturday."
Offensively, seven Midshipmen combined to score 18 goals in the game.
Alyssa Chung led all scorers with seven points on a team-high five goals and two assists.
Emma Kennedy and
Taylor Miles each added four goals apiece with Miles chipping in a pair of assists to finish with six total points.
Maggie DeFabio scored a pair of goals, including burying a free-position goal in the back of the net for her 100th career score.
Chloe Brown,
Bella Paradiso, and
Mikayla Williams rounded out the scoring for the Mids. Williams paced the team with three assists with Chung, DeFabio, Miles,
Anna Gotterup, and
Kat McAteer also chipping in a pair of assists.
Defensively, Navy once again held another opponent to single-digit goals. The Midshipmen have held 12 of their 18 opponents to single-digits. The Mids caused 11 of the Bison's 15 turnovers on the day. Chung led the team with four takeaways with
Tiana Griffin causing three turnovers. Gotterup, Miles,
Felicia Giglio, and
Jaclyn Johns added one takeaway apiece. Chung and Williams paced the team with three ground balls apiece with DeFabio picking up a pair of GBs. Brown, Giglio, Gotterup, Johns, Miles,
Landen Cain, and
Jordan Strang also picked up ground balls in the game.
Giglio earned the victory in goal. The junior, who was named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year earlier this week, finished with four saves to go along with her caused turnover and ground ball in just under 57 minutes of action (56:47).
Angelina Price relieved Giglio, working the final 3:13 with a goal allowed.
The Mids controlled the draw circle, winning 20 of 29 draws on the day.
Maura Murphy registered her fifth double-digit draw performance of her career, finishing with a career-best 15 draw wins.
For Bucknell, Caleigh Cummiskey and Megan Krestinski finished with three points apiece, leading the team with two goals each and adding an assist apiece. Jess Leon led the Bison with two caused turnovers, while tying Catherine Dineen with a team-best three ground balls. Katie Browne paced the team with four draw wins. Bella Crowley worked a majority of minutes in the cage (49:30) registering eight saves and allowing 15 goals.
The Midshipmen started the game hot, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter. Kennedy and Miles traded goals to put Navy in front 4-0 with both Mids finding the back of the net twice in the run. Chung followed with a goal to push the advantage to five. Bucknell closed out the quarter with a goal to send the game into the second stanza with Navy in front, 5-1.
In the second quarter, the Bison opened the period with back-to-back goals to trim the margin to 5-3. Brown ended the visitor's run with a goal to push the advantage to three, 6-3. Navy looked like it took a four-goal lead, but a Bucknell challenge took the goal off the scoreboard as it was deemed the shot hit the crossbar and did not break the plane. The Bison were able to capitalize, scoring a goal to close out the half down two at 6-4.
Navy began the second half in similar fashion to the first half, opening the quarter with a 5-0 run. Chung began the run with her second goal of the day, while Miles completed her hat trick with her third score. Seniors Kennedy, Paradiso, and DeFabio continued the run to push the lead to 11-4. DeFabio's goal was the 100th of her career. Following a Bison goal, the Midshipmen used goals by DeFabio, Kennedy, and Chung to extend the advantage to 14-5. The visitors scored to end the quarter with the Mids in front by eight, 14-6.
In the fourth quarter, the Midshipmen used goals by Chung and Williams to push the advantage to 10 goals and start the running clock. Bucknell scored to cut the lead to nine, but back-to-back goals by Chung and Miles gave the Mids a double-digit lead. The Bison scored with under a minute to play to provide the final margin, 18-8.
