Lecker, Torres rally Navy past Army
Attacker-midfielder Ellie Lecker was so physically exhausted late in the second half the coaching staff wondered whether she could make it to the final whistle.
Goalie Jo Torres has barely practiced this season because of a personal health issue and the three-week layoff caused the Navy athletics pause.
Those two players — a seasoned senior and inexperienced plebe — were the heroes for Navy women’s lacrosse on Saturday at West Point.
Lecker scored four goals to spark an offense that did just enough, while Torres registered 10 saves in 30 minutes of action to anchor a defense that rose to the occasion down the stretch as 16th-ranked Navy rallied to defeat archrival Army, 13-12, in the Star game at Michie Stadium.
Senior attack Nicole Victory scored three goals and dished off two assists for Navy (4-0), which was playing its first game since Feb. 27. Junior midfield-attack Reagan Roelofs contributed two goals and two assists for the Midshipmen, who had to dig deep to avoid their first loss to the Black Knights.
“Go Navy women’s lacrosse! It’s a real tribute to our players, who overcome a lot in today’s game,” Navy coach Cindy Timchal said. “We were a little off and struggled at times. I’m very proud of our team to come from behind and secure the victory.”
A restriction of movement order imposed by the Naval Academy leadership began March 1 and lasted through March 21. Navy women’s lacrosse resumed practice this past Monday and was “starting from ground zero,” according to Timchal.
Therefore, it was no surprise the Mids were not sharp with their rustiness showing up on draws (14-12 in favor of Army) and ground balls (14-10 in favor of Army). Ballhandling was also an issue for Navy, which committed 10 turnovers and was outshot 33-22.
“We had not played in a month and we had not practiced in three weeks, so we are pretty sore right now,” Timchal
said. “That was the balance. How hard can we push the players? Our mission today was to represent Navy women’s lacrosse as well as we could. This was not about winning and losing. Why don’t we just focus on putting it all out there?”
Junior attack Caroline Raymond scored four goals and assisted another to lead Army (0-3), which played inspired lacrosse throughout. Senior attacker Jackie Brattan had a hat trick for the Black Knights, who had lost five previous meetings with the Mids by an average margin of 11 goals. Madeline Lenkart, a freshman midfielder out of South River High, scored two goals for the home team.
“Competition is competition. At the end of the day, Army showed up to play tough and to play well. They gave us all that we could handle today. It was a back-and-forth battle,” Timchal said. “They dominated the draws and that allowed them to generate more scoring opportunities.”
Navy led 8-7 at halftime but was outscored 5-2 over a span of 14 minutes to start the second half. Raymond and sophomore midfielder Sidney Weigand had two points apiece during the run, which gave the Black Knights a 12-10 lead with 16:28 remaining in the game.
The Midshipmen were not only battling the Black Knights but the officiating crew as well. Timchal could not and would not say so out loud but was clearly frustrated by some of the calls as the teams combined to commit 60 fouls.
Navy suffered a huge loss when standout midfielder Gil Eby was issued two yellow cards and fouled out of the game with 20 minutes left.
“It was definitely a gut check type of game. We had a lot of things going against us and we just had to dig deep,” Victory said.
At the suggestion of assistant coach Meg Taylor, Timchal elected to make a goalie change 10 minutes into the second half. Timchal pulled starter Abbi Young, who made four saves and allowed seven goals in 30 minutes of action.
Timchal turned to Torres, a St. Mary’s High graduate who was unavailable to play in Navy’s three previous games due what the coach called a “medical-related” situation. The Prince Frederick resident was nothing short of sensational, stopping 10 shots while giving up five goals.
Timchal and Taylor, a three-time All-American goaltender at Maryland, thought Torres would provide a different look as she’s a left-handed stopper.
“It was a decision we thought about a lot. Jo had this opportunity to step in today. We just thought: Why don’t we mix it up a little bit?” Timchal said. In this case, it was the right thing to do in the second half against Army. We really relied on a freshman goalie to secure the victory against Army today.”
Torres stymied the Army offense enough to allow the Navy offense to regain its footing. Senior midfielder and team captain Marina Lazarides, a Westminster resident who prepped at Garrison Forest, started the comeback with a goal off a feed from Victory as the Mids made it 12-11 with 10:41 to go.
Lecker’s fourth goal of the game, scored unassisted off a nice individual move, tied the score at 12 with 5:30 left. Victory then scored the game-winner — driving down the alley on the left side, shooting under heavy defensive pressure and beating goalie Hannah Slomkowski stick-side low.
“It just shows the heart and hustle of this team. It was a battle for sure and we were down, but we were going to do whatever it took to win that game,” Victory said. “It’s Army and it’s the Star game, so you got to give it you all. It was just a huge team win.”
Timchal could not say enough about the contributions of Lecker, Victory and Roelofs — veterans that teamed to provide most of the offense.
“There is a lot that we ask of them. Nicole is kind of our quarterback and we put a lot on her to get things moving on offense,” Timchal said. “Ellie is our Swiss army knife who just does everything. Honestly, I didn’t know if Ellie would get to the end of the game. She was totally gassed. We told her you just have to keep going no matter how tired you are, so she did.”
Navy (4-0, 1-0) 8-5=13 Army (0-3, 0-3) 7-5=12
GOALS: N – Lecker 4, Victory 3, Roelofs 2, Lazarides, Zagaja, Eby, Thornburg. A – Raymond 4, Brattan 3, Lenkart 2, Weigand, Orlando, Raftery. ASSISTS: N – Roelofs 2, Victory 2, Corroon, Lecker. A – Manor, Raymond, Weigand. SHOTS: N – 22. A – 33. SAVES: N – Young 4, Torres 10. A – Slomkowski 6. DRAWS: N – 12. A – 14. GROUND BALLS: N – 10. A – 14. TURNOVERS: N – 10. A – 11.