Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/13/17
From Press Release
The Navy women’s lacrosse team defeated No. 8 Penn, 11-10, on Friday afternoon at Penn Park on Dunning-Cohen Champions Field in Philadelphia with key contributions from two Philly grads. With the win, the Midshipmen (16-4) advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to face the winner of Colorado and UMass on Sunday.
The victory over the Quakers (13-4) was the first for the Mids over a ranked opponent in school history. In addition, it was the second NCAA Tournament win for Navy in program history.
“I am proud of the team,” head coach Cindy Timchal (Haverford High) said after the game. “They showed up and really played tough, which was really required today against a really tough Penn team. It sounds simple, but when you are competing you have to focus in on the little things and that’s what we did. We focused in on the next ground ball. The next draw. They took us to the limit. We got a little bit of a lead, but they came back and nearly tied it up. It was a great game and I am proud of my team for holding on until the very end and coming away with the victory.”
Five players combined to score Navy’s 11 goals in the game. Andie O’Sullivan led the team with four goals and six points, while Jenna Collins and Julia Collins added three and two goals, respectively. Kelly Larkin and Meg O’Donnell each added a goal apiece. Jenna Collins, Larkin, and O’Sullivan accounted for all six of the team’s assists with each player dishing out two helpers.
Jenna Collins’ five points in the game gives the junior 201 points for her career, making her the sixth player in school history to record 200 or more points. On the season, she has 98 points and is two points shy of becoming the third player in program history with 100 or more points in a season.
Defensively, Ingrid Boyum tied a career-high with 11 saves to pick up her 16th victory of the season. The junior notched six stops in the first half and recorded back-to-back stops as the second half started to keep the game tied at 5-5 and allow the Midshipmen offense get into rhythm.
The Mids’ defense caused eight turnovers in the game with six different players causing a turnover. Blake Smith and Marie Valenti (Boyertown) led the team with two caused turnovers apiece. Meghan Hubley (Episcopal Academy) led the team with three ground balls, while Julia Collins paced the team with five draw controls.
Valenti also had two groundballs and a draw control.
Navy was the first team to score as Jenna Collins broke the scoreless tie with a free-position goal with 25:35 remaining in the first half.
Penn responded with a goal to tie the game at 1-1, but Larkin gave the Mids the lead back with an unassisted goal, 2-1.
The Quakers scored four consecutive over the next 10 minutes to take a 5-2 advantage. Penn benefitted from a pair of free position goals by Emily Rogers-Healion to start the run. Gabby Rosenzweig and Alex Condon each scored goals during the run for the home team.
Navy closed out the half with three goals to tie the game at 5-5. O’Sullivan started the run with a goal off of an assist from Je. Collins. O’Sullivan pulled the Midshipmen to within one as the sophomore converted a free-position opportunity to close the gap to 5-4. The run closed for the Mids with O’Sullivan scoring her third goal of the half to tie the game. She took a pass from Larkin and slipped it past the goalie for her fifth hat trick of the season.
In the start of the second half, Penn won the opening draw to start the half. The Quakers fired off a pair of shots on goal. Boyum was up to the task stopping both attempts and leading the clear attempt. The Mids capitalized on the offensive end as Je. Collins took a pass from O’Sullivan and buried it in the back of the cage to put Navy up 6-5.