Navy pushes past #7 Penn in first round of NCAAs

Andi O’Sullivan scored four goals and had two assists to lead Navy past seventh-seeded Penn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

It’s been a postseason of firsts for the Navy women’s lacrosse team. In the Patriot League Championship game, the Mids became the first team to defeat the Loyola Greyhounds since joining the conference. Then, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the Mids earned their first-ever victory over a ranked opponent as they upset the seventh-seeded Penn Quakers, 11-10 in their first-round NCAA Tournament game. And in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, they will play Massachusetts for the very first time.

“I am proud of the team,” head coach Cindy Timchal said. “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 ups 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.”

Andi O’Sullivan and Jenna Collins showed just how dangerous the Navy midfield is as they combined for seven goals and four assists in the victory. O’Sullivan had four goals with her two assists while Collins, the two-time Patriot League Midfielder of the Year, had a hat trick and five points.

After an early exchange of goals gave the Mids a 2-1 lead, the Quakers scored four straight goals while shutting Navy out for 14 minutes as they took a 5-2 lead. Penn attacker Emily Rogers-Healion had two free position goals to start that run and assisted the last one. She finished the game with four points split on goals and assists.

Gabby Rosenzweig even scored a player-down goal for Penn. Things just weren’t going well for the Mids. They were behind in ground balls and shots and were suffering because of 10 first half turnovers.

But with 7:42 left in the first half, something clicked for Navy. O’Sullivan scored three straight goals to end the first half with the score tied at 5-5. She carried that momentum into the second half too with two assists before scoring her fourth goal of the game with 20:40 left to put the Mids ahead 9-6. Meg O’Donnell put Navy ahead 10-6 with 14:12 remaining in the game.

Navy cut their turnovers in half in the second half of the game. They were also even on ground balls and bested the Quakers on shots. And still had Ingrid Boyum coming up with big saves. Navy did not allow the Quakers to pull away early in the game as Boyum made six first-half stops. She made five more in the second half of the game.

But such an opponent as powerful as Penn would have their charge back into the game. Just a minute after O’Donnell scored Navy’s fourth straight goals and completed an overall 8-1 run, the Quakers scored three in a row to get within one score.

Rosenzweig scored two of those goals, both unassisted, while Rogers-Healion fed Erin Barry for another goal. Those three scored made it a 10-9 game with 9:02 remaining in the game.

Boyum made a crucial save on Penn’s next possession and gave Navy the ball back. They cut an additional minute off the clock and Jenna Collins fed her twin sister Julia Collins and doubled the Navy lead with 5:52 left in the game. Marie Valenti then won the ensuing draw control and Navy wasted nearly two minutes before Penn got the ball back.

Penn did get another goal, coming from Natalie Stefan, but Jenna Collins won another late draw control. After running nearly two minutes off the clock, Navy did lose the ball when Collins’ shot was saved, but Blake Smith caused a turnover by Rosenzweig with 62 seconds left. Navy never post the ball as they secured the win.

Julia Collins scored two goals and led Navy with five draw controls. Jenna Collins had three draw controls in the game. Kelly Larkin had three points on one goal with two assists.

Navy will play UMass on Sunday afternoon at 1 pm at Penn Park on Dunning-Cohen Champions Field. Umass beat Colorado 12-7 on Friday night.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Corey Johns

Editor in Chief

You could say Corey was born to become a sports journalist. His father won a national championship coaching college soccer. His mother is a baseball fanatic who hasn't missed seeing an Orioles game since 1983 (literally, sometimes it's annoying). His great uncle was a big-time boxing promoter and his maternal grandfather was once a department head at the Baltimore Sun. Basically, sports and journalism run through his blood. He played just about every little league sports there was when he was a kid and was a multi-sport athlete in high school; even playing in the first-ever high school sanction Rugby game in the country. Eventually he retired from sports as an undefeated Maryland state Rugby champion as a high school senior. Perhaps lack of athletic talent has more to do with the retirement, but he will tell you that it more had to do with a great desire to jump right into media. Upon his graduation from University of Maryland, Baltimore County as a triple communications major, Corey started the So Much Sports network and has continued to grow his websites and continues to work to make them premier sports media outlets.

Latest posts by Corey Johns (see all)

• So long and thank you from So Much Sports - August 7, 2017
• Os stand pat, pressure is now on this offseason - July 31, 2017
• John Urschel retires from NFL - July 27, 2017