Navy Women's Lacrosse Claims Star in Annapolis

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Behind a total team effort, the No. 21 Navy women's lacrosse team defeated rival Army on Saturday afternoon, 17-11, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. 

The game saw the Mids use timely scoring, solid defense, and domination in the draw circle to earn the Star. With the win, the Midshipmen claim the overall 2023-24 Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA, 13-10-1 with two events – men's tennis (Saturday, April 20 in Annapolis) and baseball (Friday-Sunday, April 26-28 in West Point) remaining. The Mids are now 40-4-2 in the last 46 years competing in the annual Star Series.

In the game, Navy finished with a 42-to-26 advantage in shots, finishing with 17 goals. The Midshipmen posted a distinct advantage in the draw circle, winning 26 of 31 total draws. The 26 draw victories as a team tied for the second most in a game in program history. The game was a physical contest with the two teams combining for 54 fouls, seven yellow cards, and seven green cards.
 
Seven Midshipmen found the back of the net for Navy in the game, including three hat tricks. Tori DiCarlo paced the squad with a team-best four goals with an assist for a team-high five points. For DiCarlo, it was the junior's 11 hat trick of the year. Emily Messinese finished with three goals for her 13th hat trick of the season, while Mikayla Williams registered her third hat trick of the year with three scores. Maggie DeFabio, Anna Gotterup, and Lola Leone added two scores apiece, while Emma Kennedy also found the back of the net.
 
Messinese, who broke a tooth in the physical game, added four draw controls, a ground ball, and a caused turnover, while finishing two-for-two on free-possession opportunities.
 
"She is a tough athlete," Timchal said of Messinese. "One of the best in the country. She got beat up a little bit, but she took it in stride. Anything that Emily Mess does is for the team. I credit her and her toughness to persevere and play through with that type of injury."

For the second consecutive week, Alyssa Daley finished with 17 draw controls. The junior matched her career-best that she set a week ago at Holy Cross with 17 of Navy's 26 draw wins on the day. Daley was once again one draw shy of tying the Navy school record of 18, set by Reagan Roelofs ('22) against Army at the Patriot League Tournament in 2019 in a 20-10 Midshipmen victory. In addition to Daley's career-high draw total, Messinese won four draws with Williams adding three.
 
Defensively, Navy caused nine of Army's 16 turnovers on the day. Caroline Stefans led the way with two caused turnovers, while Felicia Giglio, Jaclyn Johns, Grace Peterson, Daley, DiCarlo, Messinese, and Williams were each credited with takeaways. Stefans and Williams led the team with three ground balls apiece, while DeFabio, DiCarlo, Leone, and Peterson added two each. Giglio earned her 11th victory of the season in her first Star Game. The freshman registered six saves in the game, while allowing 11 goals.
 
For Army, Julia Gorajek led the way with six points on a team-high five goals with an assist. Brigid Duffy added four points on a balanced two goals and two assists. Lindsey Serafine finished with 16 saves in a losing effort, allowing 17 goals.
 
Army was the first team to score, taking an early 1-0 lead. DiCarlo and DeFabio scored on back-to-back possessions to give Navy its first lead of the game. Two scores by the Black Knights saw the Midshipmen trail by one, but a 4-0 run gave Navy a 6-3 advantage. DeFabio, Messinese, DiCarlo and Gotterup each found the back of the net during the run. Army was able to sneak one past the keeper with three ticks on the clock to end the first quarter with Navy in front, 6-4.

In the second quarter, Williams and DiCarlo opened the scoring with consecutive scores. Gorajek countered with a pair of goals, but Kennedy, Messinese and Gotterup ended the quarter for the Midshipmen with a 3-0 run to take an 11-6 lead into halftime.
 
The Black Knights were the first team to score in the third quarter, but Leone converted a free-position opportunity to keel the margin by five goals, 12-7. After an Army goal, Navy countered with goals by DiCarlo and Williams to push the advantage to six, 14-8. The visitors scored two of the last three goals of the period with Messinese converting a free-position to send the game into the final period with Navy up, 15-10.
 
In the fourth quarter, the defense held the Black Knights to just one goal, while the offense used the clock to its advantage to shorten the game. The Midshipmen used fourth-quarter scores by Williams and Leone to go up by six, 17-11, and secure the Star.