Mids falter after big win
Amplo calls loss to Villanova “embarrassing”
Coach Joe Amplo and several players were hopeful Friday night’s stunning upset of Johns Hopkins at historic Homewood Field would propel Navy lacrosse to additional success.
Midfielder Max Hewitt, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime against the Blue Jays, said beating a top-10 opponent on its home field was “something we can build on.”
So much for any momentum carrying forward. The Midshipmen were brought down to earth in a big way Tuesday night, getting thumped at home by Villanova, 14-7.
Senior attackman Matt Licata totaled three goals and two assists, while redshirt freshman running mate Colin Michener contributed two goals and three assists. Fifthyear attackman Thomas McIntire also had a hat trick for the Wildcats, who used a 7-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to break the game open.
Redshirt freshman goalie Anthony Wilson stood tall between the pipes in posting 15 saves for Villanova (5-3), which is in the receiving votes category of the latest Inside Lacrosse poll. The Wildcats now have three wins against Patriot League opponents.
Navy coach Joe Amplo didn’t pull any punches when asked for his general thoughts after the game..
“Embarrassing. That’s what my general thoughts are. It was a waste of time,” Amplo angrily said. “Congratulations to Villanova; they played great. Navy did not show up and play its best tonight all over the field. We couldn’t find a guy who could make a play all night.”
Amplo was disappointed the Midshipmen did not build off the uplifting victory over the Blue Jays, who were ranked seventh at the time. Navy rallied from an early fivegoal deficit to defeat Hopkins, 10-9, in overtime.
“That’s on me because I can’t get this team to play consistently. It’s my job to have our team show up and play their best every time we have a competition,” Amplo said. “It’s
my job as the head coach to get them to show up and perform. We didn’t do that and I own that and take it personally.”
A key matchup Tuesday night came at the faceoff stripe between Villanova graduate student Justin Coppola and Navy freshman Zach Hayashi, who were ranked 12th and 18th, respectively, nationally. The Wildcats won that battle, 15-9, and Amplo said long stick midfielder Stephen Zupicich, a fifth-year senior, was a big reason why.
“Their faceoff guy is a warrior and [Zupicich] is as good as anyone I’ve seen. He dominated that wing,” Amplo said. “[Coppola] is a tough matchup for [Hayashi] in the sense he has really quick hands and gets the ball out to the back left. Their faceoff kid is very good at picking up ground balls in that area, but the pole helps him by driving your man off the ball and doing a really good job boxing out. It’s the best faceoff unit we’ve since all season.”
Junior attackman Henry Tolker scored two goals and assisted another to lead Navy (4-4), which was sloppy offensively and spent too much time playing defense against a potent opponent. Senior attackman Tommy Hovivian scored two goals, while Hewitt and fellow senior midfielder Dane Swanson both had a goal and an assist for the Mids.
“They bullied us on the offensive end. Offensively, we couldn’t run past anyone and got pushed around the field,” Amplo said.
Tolker scored consecutive goals less than two minutes apart as Navy cut an early deficit to 5-4 with 10 minutes remaining in the second stanza. Freshman midfielder Nick Lucchesi scored both his goals as Villanova closed the period with five straight goals to take a commanding 10-4 halftime lead.
The Wildcats then scored two goals in the opening five minutes of the third quarter to increase the margin to 12-4. The Midshipmen went 22 ½ minutes without a goal until midfielder Dane Swanson ended the drought by scoring off a sidearm crank shot with 2:31 remaining in the third period.
“The story of the game defensively was our inability to guard them in one-on-one matchups, specifically with our short sticks. When you can’t defend the ball it makes it really challenging. You have to slide quickly and they move really well,” Amplo said. “Our short sticks did not show up and play tonight. Maybe the game plan — to take away their strong hands — was too complicated. They had their way dodging.”
Remarkably, the final statistics were not nearly as lopsided as one would think. Villanova finished with slight advantages in shots (44-37) and ground balls (44-39), while actually committing more turnovers (22-18). Navy goalie Dan Daly matched Wilson by registering 15 saves.
“The stats don’t tell the story. We have to play defense and we didn’t. We have to score and we didn’t. The big stat is 14-7 Villanova over Navy,” Amplo said.
Mike Corrado, in his 18th year as Villanova head coach, was impressed by his team’s complete performance.
“I thought our defense played really well and Anthony Wilson had a big game in the cage. Offensively, I thought we really shared the ball, moved it well and shot it well,” Corrado said. “Overall, I thought it was a great team win. I think our guys were just ready to play tonight.”