ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The #8 / #6 Navy women's lacrosse team (18-1) outscored #13 / #13 Army, 6-1, in the second quarter to take control of the game, ultimately claiming a 17-11 victory over the Black Knights (14-4) to win the 2026 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Championship on Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. With the win, the Midshipmen have won back-to-back conference championships and eight total titles in program history.
"This is all about a true commitment from the Naval Academy to Navy Athletics to our new Athletics Director Michael Kelly," head coach
Cindy Timchal said of the victory. "Everybody is proud, not just me. Proud of the effort and resilience of Navy women's lacrosse and the toughness playing all the way through. We dug down deep; out scrapped and really hustled. Army played tough and Brigid Duffy, who was the Midfielder of the Year, was a big part of their scoring and really give credit to her. But ultimately, we just wanted to play Navy women's lacrosse and play tough. We did that today so we are pleased. I am just proud of our effort and earning our eighth Patriot League title."
Offensively, the Midshipmen scored 17 goals on 30 shots with eight different players finding the back of the net, including four Mids who scored multiple goals on the day.
Alyssa Chung led the charge with a team-high five goals. With her five points on the day, the sophomore has 102 points on the year, becoming the sixth player in program history to record 100 or more points in a season, joining Jenna Collins (2017, '18), Julia Collins (2018), Jasmine DePompeo (2013), Kelly Larkin (2017, '18, '19), and Erin Rawlick (2010).
Mikayla Williams led the team with seven total points on four goals and a team-high three assists. The junior midfielder scored all four of her goals during the pivotal second quarter when Navy outscored Army, 6-1. Senior
Maggie DeFabio and sophomore
Taylor Miles added two goals apiece with DeFabio adding a pair of assists and Miles contributing a helper.
Chloe Brown,
Emma Kennedy,
Kat McAteer, and
Bella Paradiso rounded out the scoring for Navy. Brown and McAteer also chipped in assists for the Mids.
Defensively, the Midshipmen held the potent Black Knight offense to 11 goals. Junior
Felicia Giglio earned the victory at goal for Navy. With the win, Giglio tied Ingrid Boyum for most wins in a season with 18, originally set turning Navy's historic Final Four run of 2017. Additionally, Giglio tied Boyum for the most wins by a goalie in program history with 48. She finished with six saves in a complete game effort to earn the win.
Junior
Jalin Jenkins had the difficult task of marking Patriot League Attacker of the Year Allison Reilly, holding the all-conference performer without a point. Jenkins finished with a pair of ground balls to go along with a caused turnover.
Caroline Gage paced the team with four ground balls, while
Landen Cain followed with three. DeFabio joined Jenkins with two, while five other Mids picked up ground balls. Cain, DeFabio, Gage, Jenkins, and
Lily Schmalz combined for five caused turnovers on the day.
Maura Murphy continued her excellent play in the draw circle, finishing with a eight of Navy's 14 draw control wins in the game. For the tournament, the senior finished with 23 draw wins, including a career-high 15 draw controls in the semifinals.
For their efforts, Chung, DeFabio, Giglio, and Williams were named to the Patriot League All-Tournament team with Chung claiming Most Valuable Player distinction.
For Army, Brigid Duffy scored seven of the team's 11 goals, while leading the team with five draw controls, three ground balls, and a pair of caused turnovers. Sarah Chernik joined Duffy with two caused turnovers and five draw wins with a pair of ground balls. The Black Knights used a pair of goalies. Lindsey Serafine started the game, working 39:24 minutes between the posts with 14 goals allowed and four saves, while Anderson Strange worked 20:36 with a save and three goals allowed.
Navy struck first, taking an early 1-0 lead thanks to a Kennedy goal. Army knotted the game at 1-1, but back-to-back goal by Chung and Miles gave the Midshipmen a 3-1 advantage. The Black Knights responded with two goals, but McAteer ended the quarter with a goal to put Navy in front, 4-3.
McAteer's goal sparked what proved to a 6-0 run to push the Mids' lead to 9-3. Chung converted a free position for her second goal of the game to start the second quarter. Williams followed with back-to-back goals, including a free position score to extend the advantage to 7-3. Paradiso found the back of the net to push the lead to five. Williams converted another free-position attempt to give the top-seeded Midshipmen a 9-3 edge. Army used a free-position goal to chip into the lead, but Williams' fourth goal of the quarter gave Navy a 10-4 lead at halftime.
Navy opened the second half with a goal from DeFabio to extend the advantage to 11-4. Following an Army goal, Chung pushed the advantage back to seven at 12-5. The Black Knights used a pair of goals to trim the margin to five, but the Midshipmen used a 3-0 run with goals by Brown, Miles, and DeFabio to head into the final quarter of play up 15-7.
Army cut into the lead with a Duffy goal, but back-to-back scores by Chung extended the advantage to 17-8 midway through the final quarter of play, ultimately putting the game out of reach. Spurred by two goals by Duffy, the Black Knights scored the final three goals, providing the final score of 17-11.
Navy will find out its NCAA Championships destination on Sunday, May 3, during the Women's Lacrosse Selection Show at 9:00 p.m. on ESPNU.
