WEST POINT, N.Y. - No. 16 Army West Point women's lacrosse defeated archrival No. 23 Navy by a score of 15-11 from Michie Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Plebe Allison Reilly delivered an all-time performance for the Black Knights, setting new single-game program records with nine goals scored and 12 points altogether with her three assists. One of four freshman in the starting lineup, Lindsey Serafine made nine saves in the cage while making her second career start.
It marks consecutive years that the Black Knights secure the star in the Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA, and is the first time that Army has taken down the Mids at Michie Stadium. Army secured the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament with the victory, ensuring a first-round bye straight into the semifinal round set to be hosted by Loyola from May 4-6.
The game started slow for both sides offensively, with Linsdey Serafine making a pair of big stops early while Reilly and Julia Franzoni each hit the post in the opening ten minutes. The first goal would not come until there was just 2:17 remaining in the opening frame, with Franzoni finishing off a feed from Reilly to open the scoring. After Navy answered on its next possession, the freshman duo of Brigid Duffy and Reilly each added goals in the final minute, with Reilly scoring a crucial free-position goal with three seconds remaining.
Navy would then dominate the second quarter, scoring twice early on to tie the score at three before Reilly restored some order with her second of the game to make it 4-3 in favor of the Black Knights. The Midshipmen took its first lead of the game with 4:14 remaining in the half with a woman-up goal, before eventually taking a 6-4 advantage into halftime after winning the second frame 5-1. Serafine made a pivotal save on Emily Messinese in the closing seconds of the half to keep it a two-goal deficit for Army. Navy fired 12 shots on goal in the first half compared to Army's eight.
A memorable second half for the Black Knights began with a goal from Reilly, securing her third career hat trick. After Navy went ahead 7-5, Reilly continued to torment and dominate Navy coming in from behind the crease. She scored three consecutive goals for Army inclduing a woman-up tally at 7:19 mark to tie the score at seven. Kathleen Sullivan got in on the action soon after, giving Army back the lead in which it would never look back from. Reilly then added two more before the end of the quarter, bringing her new career-best total to seven and Army took an 11-8 lead into the final frame.
Reilly would end up being in on Army's final five goals of the contest, assisting on a pair of scores from Franzoni which broke the game open to a 13-9 scoreline with 9:17 to play. Reilly was still not satisfied, and went on to score two more goals, breaking Army's single-game goals and points record with her final score at the 1:34 mark. Serafine made three saves in the final frame, as Navy added a final goal in the closing minute to make it a 15-11 final score from Michie Stadium.
