Navy dominates Mount in opener
Hewitt scores four goals for the Mids to lead offense
Navy men’s lacrosse coach Joe Amplo had to be pleased with what he saw out of his squad in the season opener against Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday.
After shooting poorly in the first quarter, the Navy offense found the range and bombarded the visiting net in the second and third periods.
After giving up a couple early goals, the Navy defense locked down and dominated the rest of the way.
Sophomore goalie Dan Daly got the start and was solid throughout. Freshman Zach Hayashi took over as the primary faceoff specialist and made an impressive college debut.
With the Midshipmen controlling play in all areas and building a commanding lead, Amplo was able to utilize a ton of players.
“I think it was a good start to the season,” Amplo said matter-of-factly afterward.
Senior midfielder Max Hewitt scored four goals to lead an explosive offensive performance and Daly registered seven saves to anchor a suffocating defensive effort as Navy routed Mount St. Mary’s, 19-6.
An announced crowd of 762 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium witnessed one of the better offensive displays in recent program history. Attackmen Xavier Arline and Mac Haley both notched hat tricks as Navy matched the highest goal output of Amplo’s five-year tenure.
A total of 12 players found the back of the net and the Midshipmen outscored the Mountaineers 11-2 over the second and third quarters to blow the game open.
The Mids started slow, shooting a dismal 2-for-14 in the first quarter. That was worrisome considering new offensive coordinator Dave Cottle had made shooting percentage a priority after Navy ranked second-to-last in that category in 2023.
Hewitt, Haley and company changed that narrative beginning in the second period and Navy wound up putting 31 of 52 shots on cage and finishing with a .365 shooting percentage for the game.
“Going from 2-for-14 in the first quarter to the percentage we put up from the second through the fourth is a testament to our guys sticking with it,” Amplo said. “I thought we dodged a lot harder in the second quarter, which opened up some better shots. We also got some transition. We got goals in a lot of different ways today and that’s important.”
Senior close defenseman Jackson Bonitz had an extremely productive day with team highs of six ground balls and three caused turnovers. The McDonogh graduate sparked the transition game with a goal and an
assist.
“Jackson has been consistent from day one,” Amplo said. “I thought he just did his job. He made the simple plays, the right plays.”
Highly touted freshman close defenseman AJ Marsh (McDonogh) and another plebe, short-stick defensive midfielder Justin Queen (Severn), also scored transition goals for the Mids. Hewitt said the Midshipmen simply executed better starting in the second stanza.
“I don’t think much changed. We stuck with what we were doing and just did it better,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is the transition kind of lit up the offense and that momentum carried into the six-on-six situations.”
Cottle, who won 280 games across 28 seasons as head coach at Loyola Maryland and University of Maryland, strode the sideline as an assistant for the first time since he held a graduate role at Salisbury State, his alma
mater.
Navy fans got a glimpse of what the Cottle offense will look like this season and the early returns were favorable. The Mids shot just 22% last season and the opener marked massive improvement in that department.
“I think there is a bigger emphasis on unselfishness. We’re moving the ball better and that’s allowing us to get better spacing on offense,” Hewitt said. “There’s just a bigger emphasis on moving the ball and playing together.”
Daly, who was the backup behind Pat Ryan last season, made his third career start and finished with seven saves, five of which came in the first half when the Mount fired 22 shots.
“I thought Dan was excellent early. He made some big saves and stood tall between the pipes,” Amplo said.
Navy’s close defense of Bonitz, Marsh and Nick LiCalzi put the clamps on the Mount St. Mary’s attack.
The Mountaineers used the two-man game a lot in an attempt to get one-on-one with the short stick defenders, with minimal success. Navy’s shorties, particularly senior Jackson Peters, did not get beat often.
“Defensively, we just won some matchups. We trusted guys on the ball and didn’t slide much,” Amplo said. “I thought our short sticks did a heck of a job against their two-man game, which kind of neutralized them for a long stretch.”
Amplo raved about the preseason play of Hayashi and said he brought “an energy and spirit that is captivating. The 5-foot-8, 190-pound McDonogh graduate lived up that billing by winning 14 of 21 faceoffs.
“That’s not bad for a plebe. Zach is a competitor and a warrior. We see that every day. He went out and fought every time and I’m proud of him,” Amplo said.
Navy employed three midfields from the outset and rotated five attackmen. The Mids played a total of seven defensive midfielders (four short stick, three long stick). That depth wore down Mount St. Mary’s and Amplo is hopeful that will continue to be an advantage.
“Our vision five years ago when we got here was to build a team that could go at [opponents] in waves. That’s how we’re going to play,” he said.
Long-stick midfielder Sean Gallagher gobbled up five ground balls and Peters collected three as Navy won that critical battle, 41-19. Amplo was thrilled about that figure as the goal going into the game was to get 40 ground balls.
“The biggest stat today was ground balls. That’s a credit to our guys’ will and commitment to doing that,” he said. “If we can get that number every game we’re going to be tough to beat because you get to play more offense and don’t play as much defense.”
Graduate student attackman Cormac Giblin scored two goals to lead Mount St. Mary’s, which was playing its first game under new head coach Chris Ryan. Attackmen Kevin Whitty and Brody Atkinson both had a goal and an assist.
Mount St. Mary’s (0-1) 2-1-1-2=6
Navy (1-0) 2-6-5-6=19
GOALS: MSM — Giblin 2, Whitty, Atkinson, McKay, Cullen. N — Hewitt 4, Arline 3, Haley 3, Jarosz, Houser, Bonitz, Flaherty, Schiffenhaus, Tolker, Marsh, Queen, Lough. ASSISTS: MSM — Atkinson, Barrett, Whitty. N — Bonitz, Connolly, Flaherty, Houser, Hovivian, Jarosz.
SHOTS: MSM — 39. N — 52. SAVES: MSM — Peters 10, McGinley 2. N — Daly 7, Craven 1. FACEOFFS: MSM — 10. N — 18. GROUND BALLS: MSM — 19. N — 41.