Nov 28, 2020; Annapolis, Maryland, USA; A general view of the Navy Midshipmen logo on a water tower near the stadium is seen before the game between the Navy Midshipmen and the Memphis Tigers at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images

Navy Women’s Lacrosse Stuns Loyola in Overtime to Win Patriot League Crown

Originally posted on Armed Forces Sports on SI
By Matt Postins | Last updated May 4, 2025 10:00 AM ET

The Navy Midshipmen women’s lacrosse team snapped a seven-year drought by beating Loyola (MD), 14-13, in the Patriot League Tournament championship on Saturday.

The Midshipmen (15-5) had not won the tournament title since 2017. In doing so on Saturday, they won the title on Loyola’s (13-6) home turf, as the Greyhounds hosted the even as the No. 1 seed.

Navy also won its seventh Patriot League championship in program history, claimed the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament and are set to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019.

The selection show is set for Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

The victory also ended Loyola’s incredible run of domination in Patriot League action. Navy’s win snapped Loyola's 61-game winning streak against Patriot League opponents including both regular season and postseason. It was also the fourth time Navy has ever beaten Loyola, and three of those wins have come in the league tournament.

The Midshipmen did it in dramatic fashion, as sophomore Mikayla Williams scored the game-winner goal with 16 seconds remaining in the first half of overtime. Her heroics capped off a 7-2 Navy comeback in the fourth quarter and in overtime.

That comeback started with goals by Maggie DeFabio and Williams to cut Loyola’s lead to 11-9. After Loyola pushed the lead back out to three goals, Navy went on a 3-0 run to tie the game. Alyssa Chung — the Patriot League rookie of the year — scored two goals during the run, with Emma Kennedy also providing a goal.

The Greyhounds did regain the lead with 1:02 remaining. But DiCarlo knotted the game with 18 seconds remaining to send it into overtime.

Chung scored five goals, which pushed her to 65 goals for the season and into the lead among Navy freshmen. She passed the mark set by Meg Decker in 2008.

DiCarlo added a hat trick, finishing with three goals, with two of her goals coming from free positions. Kennedy and Williams added two goals each, while Maggie DeFabio and Lola Leone chipped in one score each. Emily Messinese dished out both of Navy's assists in the game.

Navy’s draw control specialist, Alyssa Daley, finished with nine draws to reach 500 career draw wins and take over the Navy and Patriot League career records.