VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Villanova women's lacrosse team returns to action again this Wednesday, Feb. 27 for a 3 p.m. home matchup against #17 NAVY. The Wildcats are currently 2-1 after a road loss to Duke (2/9) and winning back-to-back home games against Cornell (2/16) and Siena (2/23). The Naval Academy is also 2-1 this season after a loss to #16 Virginia (15-12) and wins over St. Joseph's and #19 Towson. 

The Wildcats
Three games into the season, Villanova is currently led by junior attack Katie Comerford, senior attack Ashley Lynch and red-shirt senior Devin Hassinger. Comerford has a team high in both points (12) and assists (8) she has also recorded four goals. Lynch is tied with Comerford with four goals but sits behind her in second with nine points and five assists. Hassinger holds the top spot on the team in goals with eight. She also holds a hefty lead in draw controls with 20 and during the team's contest against Siena, Hassinger moved up the leader board for all-time career draw controls. She started the 2019 season out in fifth and has surpassed two others in her journey to No. 1. Hassinger currently has a total of 125 and sits in third all-time.

Alexa Moro has been a staple in the net for the Wildcats from the start of the season. In the team's 12-7 win over Siena, the freshman keeper recorded a career high 16 saves on 24 shots faced for a .696 save percentage. For the season she has recorded 29 saves on a total of 76 shots faced and has only allowed 29 goals.

NAVY
Navy is headed to the Villanova Stadium after coming off a close 14-13 home win over then #19 Towson. Kelly Larkin, Kayla Harris and Annalise Heyward lead their team on the offensive end so far this season. Larkin leads with 15 points after six goals and nine assists, Harris has a team high 11 goals, as well as two assists for 13 points and Heyward sits in third with 10 points on seven goals and three assists. Six others have also contributed to the team's 38 total goals.

Goalkeeper Gab Harchelroad sits in the net for Navy and has recorded 16 saves on 78 shots faced and has allowed 39 goals. In her career she has appeared in 25 games, has stood up to 134 shots on goal and has allowed 66 total goals.

Last Matchup
Navy holds a 4-1 all-time series record over Villanova. The opponents last competed in 2017 where the Wildcats fell 17-5 on the road. Members of today's team were as young as freshmen and sophomores. Hassinger and Christine Graziano each scored one goal in the contest as sophomores and Comerford and Rosati added to the offense scoring one and two goals apiece as freshmen. The rookie pair also dished out an assist each.

Both Khaia Baranowski and Olivia Gonsalves saw action in the net that day, adding relief minutes to Julia Michaels. Baranowski recorded three saves and Gonsalves tallied one.

For Navy, Larkin scored five goals and tallied three assists as a freshman. The Collins sisters, Jenna and Julia were also big proponents to their team's offense as juniors. Julia racked up three goals and five assists while Jenna scored a team high six goals and had a helping hand in setting up another.

That afternoon, Navy outshot Villanova 34-16, led in draw controls (13-11) and ground balls (26-15) and had nine fewer turnovers than the Wildcats. Though, in the net Villanova recorded 10 saves to Navy's five.

Looking Ahead
The Wildcats return to action for a Saturday matchup against St. Joseph's at 12 p.m. at Sweeny Field. After their short trip into Philadelphia, the team will return home for another mid-week contest against Holy Cross at 1 p.m. in the Villanova Stadium.

Watch the action live on Nova Nation All-Access Broadcast or follow the live stats on StatBroadcast.