Navy Women’s Lacrosse NCAA Tournament Preview

The Mids are heading to the NCAA tournament again!

Navy Women’s Lacrosse has been on quite a tear this season. The Mids are 8-1 in the Patriot League and 15-4 overall, including two dominant victories over Army, earning a #14 national ranking for their efforts. Navy has faced a ranked opponent 7 times this season and went 3-4 in those contests; including two loses to Patriot League foe, and ultimate conference champ, #11 Loyola. Though they did not win the Patriot League tournament, the selection committee decided Navy did enough to make the 30 team cut and will be dancing this spring for the third year in a row and seventh time in program history.

#14 Navy will face off against #24 High Point in the regional round of the tournament, marking the fourth time the programs have met. Navy holds the edge in the series at 2-1, but High Point defeated the Mids in the only other road matchup.

The Panthers of High Point

High Point earned their bid to the tournament by winning the Big South Tournament Championship against Winthrop. The Panthers are lead by Big South defensive player of the year Junior Meredith Chapman, who set the High Point single season record for forced turnovers at 51. Chapman ranks sixth in the NCAA for turnovers averaging more than 2.6 per game. Sophomore Abby Hormes has had quite the impressive campaign of her own by setting the single season school records for points (102) and goals (65); the mark of 102 points was also good enough to rank #2 for a single season in the Big South.

The Midshipmen of Navy

The Mids have a couple stars of their own to matchup against the Panthers’ best. Junior Kelly Larkin has been an absolute machine all season, racking up 112 total points on 63 goals and 49 assists, expect a big day from the Junior who is averaging more than a hat trick a game. Sophomore Nicole Victory is the #2 points leader for the Mids with 55 total points; and Junior Annalise Heyward is not far behind at #3 with 48 on the year.

The Mids have been dominant in every aspect of the defensive side of the ball as well, led by senior Gab Harchelroad between the pipes. Harchelroad is 14-4 on the season with 96 saves this year. The Mids have more fielded groundballs, caused turnovers, successful clears, and draw controls than their opponents; they also turnover the ball a lot less than their opponents.

GAMEDAY INFO

Navy is 3-3 in NCAA tournament first round matchups. The Mids will look to build on their recent tournament success after having made it to the Final Four in 2017, and the Elite Eight in 2018. The winner of tonight’s matchup has a tough road ahead, as they will face off against Virginia on their own turf in Charlottesville on Sunday 12 May at 1200.

The Mids will take on the Panthers tonight at 1900 EST at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. You can catch the action on ESPN 3.