Taylor Pinzone, who was part of two Final Four teams at Northwestern before earning First-Team All-Pac 12 honors at Arizona State, joined the Navy women’s lacrosse coaching staff as an assistant coach in October of 2023. Pinzone works directly with associate head coach Brooke Shriver and the Midshipmen offensive attack.
2025 Season Recap
Navy concluded the 2025 season with a 15-6 overall record, including an 7-2 mark in the Patriot League.
Navy earned the No. 3 overall seed in the Patriot League Tournament. The Midshipmen handled No. 6 Lehigh, 19-2, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in the tournament quarterfinal. The Mids posted an 18-9 victory over second-seeded and 19th-ranked Army in the semifinals to advance to the Patriot League Championship for the 13th time in program history. Navy received a golden-goal from Mikayla Williams to notch a 14-13 victory in overtime against top-seeded and #15 Loyola in the Patriot League Championship.
It was the seventh Patriot League Championship in program history and the first since 2018. The Midshipmen earned the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. It was the eighth time in program history the Mids advanced to the NCAA Tournament and the first time since 2019. Navy took on #14 Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The win snapped Loyola's 61-game winning streak against Patriot League opponents including both regular season and postseason. The win by Navy was the fourth in program history against Loyola, including three in the Patriot League Tournament Championship (2017, '18, '25). The Midshipmen remain the only Patriot League school to defeat the Greyhounds.
In the Patriot League Championship, the Midshipmen overcame a five-goal deficit, outscoring the Greyhounds, 7-2, in the fourth quarter and overtime. It was the first time Navy rallied from five goals down to earn a victory since notching a 14-13 come-from-behind victory over #11 Florida in March of 2019.
The Midshipmen concluded the year ranked among the NCAA’s top 10 in scoring margin (7th / 5.71) and scoring offense (7th / 15.62). Individually, Alyssa Chung ranked in the NCAA’s top 25, ranking 15th in goals (66).
Navy was ranked throughout the 2025 season in the IWLCA Division I Coaches Poll, finishing the year ranked #18. The Mids entered the rankings at #16, also rising as high as #16 (May 5) heading into the NCAA Tournament.
The Tewaaraton Award announced its initial watch list and Navy women's lacrosse seniors Alyssa Daley and Emily Messinese were named to the list, becoming the seventh and eighth Midshipmen, respectively, to be named to the Watch List.
Attackers Chung (honorable mention) and Messinese (honorable mention), along with midfielder Williams (honorable mention) were among the four Midshipmen named All-American by USA Lacrosse, while Chung and Messinese were also tabbed Honorable Mention All-Americans by Inside Lacrosse. Additionally, Messinese was selected as an Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American as an honorable mention selection.
The IWLCA honored 128 student-athletes in Division I women's lacrosse with a selection to one of the All-Region teams for 2025, including three Midshipmen – Daley, Messinese, and Williams – who were named All-Mid-Atlantic Region. It was the second consecutive season that Navy had multiple IWLCA All-Region selections.
Six (6) members of the Navy women's lacrosse team were named to the 2025 All-Patriot League Team. The Midshipmen tallied four first-team selections – Chung (attack), Messinese (attack), Williams (midfield), and Daley (defense) – while also claiming a pair of second-team honors – Tori DiCarlo (attack) and Ava Yovino (midfield). Additionally, Chung was selected as the Patriot League Rookie of the Year. It was the fourth consecutive season that Navy had four first-team all-conference selections, while Chung became the second consecutive Midshipmen to earn Rookie of the Year accolades and the fourth in program history, joining Loren Generi ('15) in 2012, Kelly Larkin ('20) in 2017, and Williams in 2024.
Three (3) women’s lacrosse players combined for nine Patriot League weekly honors, including Chung who claimed a league-high seven Rookie of the Week awards, including six consecutive honors to end the season. Chung's seven rookie of the week honors match Navy's Kelly Larkin and Loyola's Livy Rosenzweig for the League's single-season record.
In the classroom, a pair of Midshipmen student-athletes were selected to the 2025 Women's Lacrosse Academic All-Patriot League Team – Tori DiCarlo and Grace Peterson. DiCarlo repeated as the PL Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the sport. In addition, the duo was among the six Navy female student-athletes who garnered Academic All-District accolades for at-large sports from the College Sports Communicators (CSC). DiCarlo was named First Team Academic All-American, becoming the sixth player in Navy women’s lacrosse history to be named Academic All-American.
As a team, the Midshipmen tallied 328 goals with 132 assists, including 158 goals and 67 assists in conference games.
Chung, Messinese, and Williams led the team with over 60 points each. Chung had a team-high 66 goals with 15 assists for 81 total points, while Messinese had 43 goals and a team-best 26 helpers for 69 points. Williams was second on the team with 51 goals to go along with 14 assists for 65 total points.
Chung recorded 16 multi-goal performances in her first season (21 games), including 14 hat tricks. In Patriot League games, Chung led Navy with 49 points (5.44 per game) on a team-best 39 goals (4.33), while adding 10 assists (1.11). She recorded multiple goals in all nine conference games with eight hat tricks.
With eight hat tricks in 2025, Messinese recorded 32 career hat tricks (64 games played), which was seventh-most in program history. In total, Messinese scored at least one goal in 59 games (.913) with multiple scores in 46 games (.719).
Williams scored at least one goal in 20 of 21 games during the season with multiple scores in 16 contests, including eight of the last nine games the year. She notched eight hat tricks, including four against ranked opponents – #6 Florida (3 goals); #17 Loyola (5 goals); #19 Army (3 goals – Patriot League Tournament), and #14 Clemson (3 goals – NCAA Tournament).
Emma Kennedy and DiCarlo were fourth and fifth on the team with 54 and 48 points, respectively. Kennedy had 43 goals and 11 assists this season, while DiCarlo had 35 goals and 13 helpers to round out Navy’s top five scorers. Kennedy finished the Patriot League Tournament with 10 goals and four assists for 14 points with a pair of hat tricks, including a career-high seven points on five goals and two assists against #19 Army. DiCarlo scored multiple goals in six of the last eight games with four hat tricks, including three goals against #19 Army and #15 Loyola in the Patriot League Tournament.
Taylor Miles, Maggie DeFabio, Ava Yovino, and Lola Leone closed out Navy’s double-digit scorers. Miles had a balanced 17 goals and 18 helpers for 35 points, while DeFabio had 33 points on 21 goals and 12 assists. Yovino was one point back of DeFabio with 32 points with 18 goals to go along with 14 assists. Leone, who recorded her 100th career goal in the Patriot League Semifinal, added 13 points on 11 goals and a pair of assists.
2024 Season Recap
Navy concluded the 2024 season with a 15-4 overall record, including an 8-1 mark in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen advanced to the Patriot League Championship for the 12th time in program history. Navy was ranked throughout the 2024 season in the ILWomen / IWLCA Division I Poll, finishing the year ranked #20. The Mids entered the rankings at #25 (preseason), rising as high as #16 (March 4).
Navy earned the No. 2 overall seed and a first-round bye in the Patriot League Tournament. The Midshipmen advanced to the Patriot League Championship with a 19-5 victory over No. 4 seed Holy Cross in the semifinals. The Mids were edged 12-11 in overtime to top-seeded and #7 Loyola in the Patriot League Championship. Following the conclusion of the conference tournament, the Patriot League announced its All-Tournament Team and Alyssa Daley, Emily Messinese, and Caroline Stefans were named to the 11-person team.
Daley (draw specialist) and Messinese (midfield) were tabbed Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse All-Americans as honorable mention selections. Daley and Messinese became the sixth and seventh Midshipmen, respectively, to be named IL All-Americans, joining Jenna Collins (2017, '18), Julia Collins (2018), Blake Smith (2018), Kelly Larkin (2017, '18, '19, '20), and Ava Yovino (2023) in the Navy annals, while it was the second consecutive season that Navy had someone on the USA Lacrosse All-America list as then-freshman Ava Yovino was an honorable mention selection in 2023.
The IWLCA named its All-Region teams, including Daley and Messinese who were named to the second team of the Mid-Atlantic Region. It was the first time since 2018 that Navy had multiple IWLCA All-Region selections.
Six (6) Mids were named to the 2024 All-Patriot League Team. The Midshipmen tallied four first-team selections, including attacker Tori DiCarlo and Messinese, while also claiming a pair of second-team honors with attacker Lola Leone and midfielder Mikayla Williams. Additionally, Williams was selected as the Patriot League Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Midshipmen to earn Rookie of the Year accolades since Kelly Larkin ('20) earned the honor as a plebe in 2017.
As a team, the Midshipmen tallied 300 goals with 120 assists, including 152 goals and 65 assists in conference games. The Midshipmen concluded the year ranked among the NCAA’s top 10 in clear percentage (5th / .935), scoring margin (6th / 6.89), scoring offense (8th / 15.79), and scoring defense (9th / 8.89). Individually, Emily Messinese ranked in the NCAA’s top 25, coming in 13th in goals (68) and 19th in goals per game (3.58).
Messinese and DiCarlo led the team with 86 and 72 points, respectively. Messinese had 86 points with on a team-best 68 goals, while adding 18 assists. DiCarlo was second on the team with 72 points on 58 goals with 14 helpers. Messinese posted a team-best 16 hat tricks in 19 games, while DiCarlo registered 14 hat tricks during the season.
Kat McAteer was third on the team with 50 total points. The sophomore had a balanced 25 goals with a team-high 25 assists to her credit. Leone was fourth on the squad with 47 points on 40 goals and seven assists, while Williams followed with 25 goals and 16 assists for her 41 points. Maggie DeFabio had 26 goals with 12 assists for 38 points to round out Navy’s 30 or more-point scorers. Emma Kennedy finished with 29 points on 20 goals and nine assists, while Lindsay Beardmore notched a balanced 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 total points. Anna Gotterup closed out Navy’s double-digit point scorers with 14 points this season on 13 goals and a helper.
In the classroom, a pair of Midshipmen student-athletes were selected to the 2024 Academic All-Patriot League Team. DiCarlo led the duo of academic achievers as the 2024 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year. DiCarlo's selection as Scholar-Athlete of the Year was the second in Navy history and the first for the Midshipmen since Mary Ruttum ('10) earned the honor as a senior in 2010. Additionally, DiCarlo was among the five Navy female student-athletes who garnered Academic All-District accolades for at-large sports from the CSC.
Prior to Navy
Pinzone came to the Naval Academy after spending a season at Cornell with the women’s lacrosse coaching staff as an assistant coach. She coached the offensive side of the ball, while also working with the Big Red draw control unit. During the 2023 season, the Big Red posted top 10 season marks in goals (193, ninth), draw controls (220, second) and free position goals (50, fourth).
Prior to Cornell, Pinzone coached with the Mass Elite Club Lacrosse program beginning in 2015, while also doing personal instruction and training. Experienced in skill evaluation and assessment, as well as practice planning and execution and skill level evaluation, she served as an instructor at Northwestern coach Kelly Almonte Hiller’s camps and clinics as an undergraduate.
Personal
A 2022 First-Team All-PAC 12 and PAC-12 All-Tournament selection in the midfield at Arizona State as a graduate transfer, Pinzone ranked third on the team in scoring (41g, 13a, 54pts), draw controls (42), ground balls (30) and caused turnovers (20) while pacing the team in free position goals (10). She earned National Player of the Week honors from Inside Lacrosse after leading ASU to a win at Rutgers. Upon graduation, she earned an invitation to compete at the IWLCA Senior All-Star Game.
Her Arizona State experience came on the heels of an excellent four-year career at Northwestern, posting 34 goals and six assists in 50 games, including two starts. She helped lead the team to a pair of NCAA Final Four appearances with two Big Ten Tournament and one conference regular-season crown. She was chosen as a three-time Academic All-Big Ten pick and captured league freshman of the week accolades once.
Pinzone, a 2021 graduate of Northwestern with a degree in Communication Studies, earned a Master's in Leadership and Management from Arizona State in 2022.
