Eicher Delivers in OT in Army-Navy Classic; Cornell, Maryland Get Top 5 Wins

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – This week was always going to be different for Army. It had to be. As well as the Black Knights have fared this season, as tested as their proven lineup is, it was inescapable that their annual regular-season game against Navy would carry a bit more than usual.

This time it would take a little bit more time than usual.

Senior attackman Jackson Eicher capped Army’s late comeback, beating a short stick with 58.4 seconds left in overtime to seal the Black Knights’ 12-11 defeat of the Midshipmen before 7,413 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

“It’s something as a team we’ll remember for the rest of our lives,” Eicher said. “This is a game where we talk about creating a memory and giving everything you have on that field for today 60-plus to create that memory.”

Army (10-1, 5-1 Patriot) secured its third consecutive victory in the series, its second-longest winning streak against the Midshipmen (7-5, 3-3) in the last 72 years behind a six-game run from 2010-14. It was also the longest Army-Navy game since the Black Knights won in two overtimes in 1991.

Eicher and Evan Plunkett had three goals apiece for Army, while Jack Flaherty had two goals and two assists for Navy. Mids goalie Dan Daly made 15 saves after not practicing all week because of illness.

Yet that’s an anodyne way to sum up an extremely on-brand contest. Neither team was particularly slick with the ball. Neither team ever led by more than three. Neither team was out of it until it was over.

“It’s the only game that can look beautiful when it’s ugly,” Army coach Joe Alberici said.

He should know. This was his 26th Army-Navy game, his 24th as a head coach, and few understand the undulating dynamics of a service academy game better. So even as Army rattled off five in a row to go up 7-4 less than seven minutes into the second half, things were anything but secure.

Still, Army entered the day allowing a Division I-low 6.1 goals per game, and it isn’t in the habit of giving up double-digit goals. Only one opponent (North Carolina) had scored 10 times in regulation against the Black Knights this season. The persistent Mids would become the second thanks to their depth.

Sophomore Liam Hurley, who entered the day with one career point, had a goal and an assist in the fourth quarter. Junior Jack Nichtern, owner of one assist in 10 previous games during his time at Navy, assisted on Mac Haley’s goal to give Navy its first second-half lead at 9-8.

And when Flaherty scored with 5:02 to go, the Mids were up 11-9 despite already committing 21 turnovers and at one point managing just one shot in 15 minutes.

“Their defenders are unbelievable one-on-one guys,” Flaherty said. “It’s not exactly what we’ve faced throughout the year. I think we’ve faced a lot of teams that do more gimmicky defenses where they send slides early and things of that sort. Playing against Army is a totally different thing. You have to beat your guy one-on-one. Part of our game plan was to wear them down, and I think that probably showed with the five fourth-quarter goals.”

There remained time for Army to go to its knowns --- and for Navy’s turnover troubles to persist. The Mids had three consecutive turnovers after their last goal, and Plunkett got one to trickle past Daly with 2:06 to pull the Black Knights within 11-10.

Plunkett struck again with another unassisted goal 43 seconds later, sprung free by Brayden Fountain’s screen to get a clean look at the cage. The junior midfielder had shot 1-for-8 prior to the back-to-back goals, often contending with Navy’s AJ Marsh.

“AJ Marsh was the best player on the field for 56 minutes today and then Evan Plunkett decided he was going to make his mark,” Navy coach Joe Amplo said. “AJ Marsh was an absolute killer out there. Dominated the field. I’m going to celebrate that. I’m going to celebrate that this kid is as good as any player in the country, and in the big game, he took over that field.”

Daly and Army’s Sean Byrne traded saves on the first two possessions of overtime, and the Black Knights called timeout after an errant shot early in their second trip in extra time.

This time they went to Eicher, who stuck one from 10 yards.

“We were looking to get a matchup and I think the shot clock was getting pretty low,” said Eicher, who shot 3 of 15. “Just was able to get top side with the shorty and put a shot on the cage. Not many that I had today went on cage, so lucky that one went on cage and went in.”

Eicher’s goal set off a celebration. It was Army who would be in a better position to play host to the Patriot League tournament, not Navy. It was the Black Knights who would sing their school’s alma mater second, an Army-Navy tradition across all sports.

And it was Army that tacked on a chapter in the series it will be sure to revisit in the years and decades to come.

“It’s so powerful because you stand on the shoulders of so many people who came before you,” said senior defenseman AJ Pilate, who caused four turnovers and recounted hearing from several former Black Knights players in the past week. “I got this guy texting me ‘Death before defeat.’ How does that not super-charge you?”

Also in the USA Lacrosse Top 20

No. 1 Cornell continued to roll with a 17-12 victory over No. 5 Syracuse on Long Island. C.J. Kirst and Ryan Goldstein are one of the top 1-2 punches in the country and combined for 16 points. Kirst had five goals and three assists and Goldstein had three goals and five assists.

No. 4 Maryland dominated early and ended No. 2 Ohio State’s 11-game winning streak, beating the Buckeyes 13-8. Logan McNaney made 10 saves for Maryland, giving him a school record 715 for his career.

No. 3 Princeton avenged a loss from 2024 to Brown, beating the Bears 17-7. Nate Kabiri had a career-high seven points (4g, 3a) and Ryan Croddick made 16 saves.

No. 6 Penn State throttled No. 17 Johns Hopkins 10-4. Matt Traynor matched career-highs of seven goals and eight points for the Nittany Lions. JHU has now lost four straight games to open Big Ten play.

No. 8 Notre Dame scored four goals in the final 3:29 of the third quarter to break a 4-4 tie and went on to beat No. 20 Virginia 12-7. Thomas Ricciardelli made 13 saves in the victory.

No. 9 Harvard won its fourth straight, beating Penn 13-6. Jack Speidell scored five goals, his fourth straight game with at least five goals.

No. 11 North Carolina beat No. 10 Duke, 8-7, in Durham for the first time since 2016. UNC’s defense continued to impress and Michael Gianforcaro made 12 saves.

No. 12 Richmond beat longtime rival High Point, 11-6, in a battle of unbeatens in the Atlantic 10. Aidan O’Neil led the offense with two goals and two assists and Mitchell Dunham had five caused turnovers.

No. 19 Denver rode its defense to a 7-3 victory at No. 14 Georgetown. Malcolm Kleban made 11 saves an Noah Manning carried the offense with four goals.

Lafayette upset No. 16 Boston University, 11-9, marking the first time in program history it won four Patriot League games in a season. Joshua Heaney had three goals and Riley Sullivan had two goals and two assists.

No. 18 Fairfield won 13-10 at Delaware to set up a battle for first place against Towson in the CAA next weekend. Will Consoli had four goals and three assists and Owen Hirsch made 16 saves.

— Brian Logue