Loyola women’s lacrosse hosted Navy this past Saturday for the Patriot League Championship at Ridley Athletic Complex. In a tough fought game from both sides, the Navy Midshipmen ultimately surmounted Loyola in a 14-13 overtime victory, which gave Navy an automatic bid in the NCAA DI Women’s Lacrosse Tournament in Boston, Massachusetts.
After conference play concluded, the NCAA released the full list of teams participating in their tournament, and Loyola Maryland was one of the 29 teams selected. 15 schools won their conference, and 14 more teams were selected at-large. The tournament for the Greyhounds begins with the first round on Friday, May 9 at 4 p.m. as they play Stony Brook.
“It’s very exciting [to see Loyola in the tournament], you know, I think lacrosse is something we really pride ourselves on… we’ve had a long history of great success and I’m happy to see that continue,” student James Donoughe ’26 said.
“It’s nice to see that they made it to the NCAA tournament, to see that our women’s team is advancing,” student Maria Barden ’27 said.
This year’s championship game was a rematch of last year’s final, which ended in a 12-11 overtime victory for Loyola as they earned their sixth straight Patriot League title. Loyola faced off against Navy earlier this year in the regular season on March 26, winning again in double overtime 20-19 on the road. But this year’s title game ended with a Navy overtime victory as they became the 2025 Patriot League Champions.
There was a great turnout on the hot, sunny Saturday afternoon at Ridley. The game started out with a quick Navy run, the game’s opening goals from Tori DiCarlo and Alyssa Chung to take a 2-0 lead over the Greyhounds five minutes into the game. Loyola responded with two goals of their own from Gabby Stapleton ’25 and Georgia Latch ’25. Navy notched two more before the end of the quarter, and another goal from Latch finished the quarter 4-3, Navy leading.
The second quarter was all Loyola. Though Navy opened with another goal, the Greyhounds scored five unanswered. Emma Talago ’26 scored Loyola’s first goal of the second quarter, followed by goals from Elisa Faklaris ‘26, Olivia Blanding ‘27, and Chase Boyle ‘25. Faklaris scored again to give the Greyhounds an 8-5 lead, but Navy snuck one in right before the half ended. Halftime gave a score of 8-6, Loyola.
Loyola came hot out the gates in the second half, taking a quick 11-6 lead with 12:13 remaining in the third. Navy was on the brink of collapse, their defense seemingly falling apart. Loyola had just gone on an 8-1 run, and time was not Navy’s friend. Starting at 7:14 left in the third, Navy slowly bit into Loyola’s lead with a goal. The rest of the quarter went scoreless, and it all came down to the fourth quarter.
As the minutes ticked by, Navy continuously found ways to score; 11-8, 11-9. Loyola responded with a goal with 10:42 remaining, but two more from Navy put the game in only one goal reach, a 12-11 Loyola lead with 7:33 remaining. A Loyola foul near their goal gave Navy a free position shot to tie the game 12-12. What seemed to be a Loyola-dominated game is now an even playing field.
The game became more physical as the clock ticked down, and there could only be one winner. A minute and a half remained and Loyola had possession; with 1:02 left on the clock, Latch notched one in the net to give Loyola the lead, 13-12. Navy had to score to keep their season alive, and with 18 seconds left, they did just that, a game-tying goal from DiCarlo. Regulation ended 13-13.
The first overtime session began and the next goal scored would earn their team the Patriot League Championship. Navy began with the ball; they were fouled and given a free position shot, which resulted in a miss and Loyola possession.
After a timeout, Loyola had 1:30 left with 62 seconds left on the shot clock. Unable to get a shot off, the ball was turned over and Navy had possession. They ran down the field, controlled the ball, and Mikayla Williams took a shot with 16.6 seconds left. It went in, and the title was theirs at a final score of 14-13.
“Credit where credit is due, Navy had a big comeback… I have no doubt we’ll bounce back, this is one of our strongest programs, our women’s lacrosse team… This is I don’t think anything more than a small roadblock for them,” Donoughe said.
Navy’s Chung led all players in goals with five, second was Latch with four. Latch also had five assists, the game’s leader in points by far with nine. Loyola goalkeeper Lauren Spence ’25 also had nine saves on the day.
Only winning by one, Navy still won the statistical battle. They had 12 turnovers to Loyola’s 17, had 18 draw controls to Loyola’s 12, and had nine free position shots to Loyola’s one, according to the Loyola Greyhounds official site.
Though this result was not what the Greyhounds wanted, they earned a huge assortment of Patriot League honors to show for their hard work and strong season as they make way to their seventh straight NCAA appearance.
“I think [their success] shows that they know how to implement teamwork and work together. And I think Loyola knows how to pick their recruits right because they pick people that can work very well together,” Barden said.
“I think [Loyola is] indisputably one of the greats, with this long history of prestige, I don’t think there’s very many other teams in their echelon, in their conversation… I think this is a really great privilege to be able to watch them play,” Donoughe said.
Latch was named Patriot League Attacker of the Year, who led the league with 122 points and 69 assists, including tournament play. Boyle was named Midfielder of the Year, Lily Osborne ‘25 named Defensive Player of the Year, Spence named Goalkeeper of the Year, and head coach Jen Adams was named Coach of the Year. It is each player’s second time earning each award and Adams’ sixth time earning Coach of the Year.
Midfielder Boyle also was named to the Tewaaraton Top-25 for a second straight year, a testament to her consistently strong play, leading the Patriot League in goals this season with 74.
Loyola took home these major awards by product of their 9-0 regular season record against Patriot League opponents. Additionally, Latch, Boyle, Osborne, Spence, and Faklaris were all named First Team All-Patriot League. Mim Suares-Jury ’28 and Ellie Rinehart ’25 were both named Second Team All-Patriot League.
Loyola women’s lacrosse now shifts their focus from conference to national play. They have proven themselves as a team and as a program historically. The Greyhounds are eight-time Patriot League Champions since joining in 2014, with head coach Jen Adams consistently pushing the program to wins – Loyola holds an NCAA record 93-straight regular season conference wins. They are proven, so when push comes to shove, let’s see how they respond.
Loyola plays Stony Brook on Friday, May 9 at 4 p.m., and the game will be available on ESPN+, the winner playing No. 2 Boston College on Sunday. Keep up with all updates on Loyola women’s lacrosse on their Instagram to support them throughout the playoffs.
