Brindi Griffin, who led the University of Maryland to the 2017 and 2019 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse National Championships, joined the Navy women's lacrosse team as an assistant coach in August of 2021. In her role, Griffin works with the Midshipmen’s offense, as well as having an active role in recruiting.
Finished the 2023 season 13-6 overall with a 6-3 record in the Patriot League. Women’s lacrosse finished as the No. 3 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, advancing to the semifinals.
Freshman midfielder Ava Yovino, who was selected to the Tewaaraton Award watch list, was named Honorable Mention All-American by Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine, while also being tabbed Second Team IWLCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region. Yovino joined Kelly Larkin (’20) as the only freshmen in program history to be named Inside Lacrosse All-American. Additionally, Yovino became the first freshman in program history to be named IWLCA All-Region.
Four (4) members of the Navy women's lacrosse team were named to the 2023 All-Patriot League Team with defender Athena Corroon, attacker Leelee Denton, midfielder Emily Messinese, and Yovino being selected to the first team. Additionally, attacker Charlotte Ryan was named to the Academic All-Patriot League team.
As a team, the Midshipmen have tallied 281 goals with 125 assists, while picking up 337 ground balls, winning 290 draw controls, and causing 181 turnovers. In conference games, Navy recorded 136 goals and 52 assists with 169 ground balls, 135 draw controls, and 97 caused turnovers.
Yovino led the team with 92 points with a team-best 50 assists while adding 42 goals. She was joined atop the Navy leaderboard by Messinese who led the squad with 49 goals, while adding 12 helpers for 61 points. Denton and Maggie DeFabio tied for third on the team with 45 points. Denton scored 40 goals with five helpers, while DeFabio notched 33 goals and 12 assists. Messinese and Yovino paced the team with eight hat tricks apiece, while Denton and DeFabio had seven and six, respectively.
Ryan, Tori DiCarlo, Lola Leone, Lindsay Beardmore, and Isabelle Thornburg rounded out Navy’s double-digit point scorers. Ryan had 27 goals and 10 assists for 37 points, while DiCarlo (28g 5a) and Leone (30g 2a) had 33 and 32 points, respectively. Beardmore (12g 7a) and Thornburg (4g 9a) closed out the double-digit point performances with 19 and 13.
Navy spent eight weeks ranked in the ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Poll during the 2023 season, finishing the year ranked No. 25. The Mids entered the rankings at No. 25 (March 20), rising as high as No. 20 (April 3). In its history, Navy has been ranked 78 total weeks, including a stretch of 46 weeks from the final poll of 2017 (May 30) to April 5, 2021.
Following the 2023 season, nearly 100 of the nation's top women's lacrosse players were selected for tryouts for the 2024 U.S. Women's U20 National Team at the USA Lacrosse headquarters, with Navy midfielder DeFabio among the 99 selected.
During the 2022 season, Navy registered a 15-5 overall record with a 7-2 mark in the Patriot League. The Mids finished as the No. 3 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, but victories over American and Army lifted the Mids into the championship game.
Six members of the Navy women's lacrosse team were named to the 2022 All-Patriot League Team, including four – Alexis Bell, Gil Eby, Christine Fiore, and Reagan Roelofs – selected to the first team. In addition, Roelofs was named to the Academic All-Patriot League team, while six women’s lacrosse players combined for nine Patriot League weekly honors.
Offensively, Navy tallied 372 points on 269 goals and 103 assists in 20 games. The Mids were led by Reagan Roelofs, Gil Eby, Kasey Dietzel, Charlotte Ryan, Leelee Denton, and Lindsay Beardmore. Roelofs paced the offense with a team-high 71 points on a team-best 53 goals with 18 assists. Eby was next with 47 points on 39 goals and eight assists, while Dietzel is third with 46 points on 29 goals with 17 assists. Ryan (30g 9a), Denton (32g 6a), and Beardmore (17g 17a) round out Navy’s 30-point scorers with 39, 38, and 34, respectively.
In her five years in College Park, Griffin helped Maryland put together a 78-13 (.857) record with two national titles and five Big Ten crowns (regular season: 2017, ’18, ’19; tournament: 2017, ’18). The attacker finished her Maryland career with 66 starts in 91 games played with 199 points on 132 goals with 67 assists. In addition, she recorded 62 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers, and 10 draw controls.
Griffin was a 2020 Inside Lacrosse Honorable Mention All-American and earned IWLCA Second-Team All-Region distinction in 2021. She was named to the 2020 and ’21 Tewaaraton Award Watch List which honors the top male and female college lacrosse players in the United States. Griffin played a pivotal role in Maryland's 2019 National Championship run, being named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team after leading the Terps with nine goals in the Final Four. In addition, she was named to the Big Ten Tournament All-Tournament Team in 2019.
The Edgewater, Md. native was a two-time captain (2020, ’21) for the Terps and earned Big Ten All-Academic honors twice (2020, ’21). She graduated in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in criminology and criminal justice with a minor in public leadership.
Prior to Maryland, Griffin was a standout at McDonogh High School in Owings Mill, Md. She led McDonogh to four straight high school national championships and an 80-0 record. Griffin was the No. 4-ranked recruit in her class by Inside Lacrosse. She earned Under Armour All-America accolades in 2016, while claiming US Lacrosse First-Team All-America distinction three times (2014, ’15, ’16). In addition, Griffin was an Under Armour Underclassman All-American in 2013 and 2014.
Griffin, who was a member of US U-19 team, was a two-time Baltimore Sun First-Team All-Metro (2015, ’16) selection, while being named all-conference all four seasons. In addition, she was an all-conference selection in field hockey and swimming, leading the field hockey team to the IAAM Championship in 2014 and the swim team to the IAAM Championship in 2016. Griffin served as team captain for the lacrosse, field hockey, and swimming teams.
