The memory of Feb. 27, 2019, was fresh in the minds of Villanova players when they lined up to play Navy last Saturday.

The Wildcats had come close to beating the then-No. 17 Mids last season. They held Navy to just one goal in the second half, but a ten-minute stretch in the first half in which they allowed seven straight goals kept them from earning a win.

So as they readied for the rematch this year, Villanova players knew what they needed to do.

“We knew defensively that without that ten-minute gap in the first half, we hung with them,” head coach Julie Young said. “We had to make sure we capitalized on our opportunities and put the ball in the back of the net, which we didn’t do last year.”

Put the ball in the back of the net is exactly what Villanova did. The Wildcats won the opening draw and scored exactly one minute in, taking control from the start. They ended the first half with a four-goal lead and never squandered it in the second.

They held the advantage in nearly every category — shots, shots on goal, ground balls, draw controls — and it worked in their favor, bringing home a 12-9 win over the No. 15 Mids (2-2).

It was Villanova’s first win over Navy since 2014, and it took a full team effort. Seven players scored, led by junior attacker Brittany Bruno (three goals and one assist) and senior attacker Ashley Lynch (two goals and two assists). Sophomore Alexa Moro powered the Wildcats in goal, making 12 saves — including a big one on an eight-meter shot with less than two minutes left in the second half that could’ve launched a late Navy comeback.

Moro earned a handful of accolades for her showing — including IWLCA and Big East Defensive Player of the Week awards — and Young praised her goalie.

“She was just a huge momentum and confidence builder for our defense,” Young said. “She made the saves, and it really solidified us to win that game. She was mentally there. She was ready for it.”

The Wildcats were forced back in action against another ranked team just four days later, coming back to Pennsylvania to face No. 14 Princeton. They didn’t fare as well this time around against a tough Tigers team. Villanova kept it close, but Princeton (2-1) went on four separate three-goal runs to build a lead it wouldn’t lose to claim an 18-13 win.

Young knew Princeton would be a tall challenge, especially less than a week after such a complete effort against a top Navy team. But the Wildcats won’t let that loss stop them.

“We’ve got to continue to play every ball as hard as we can, and we can’t let one mistake make us play tentatively,” Young said. “In the past, we have done that. The mindset [now] is just keep going after it. Don’t worry about that play, make the next play.”

There’s a loaded slate coming up. Villanova will play six games over the course of the next two weeks, starting with Drexel (1-2) on Saturday and eventually facing a red-hot Richmond (5-0) team on March 14.

“We’re not always going to play a team like that, like Navy, where we’re in control the whole time against a good team,” Young emphasized. “It’s going to be up-and-down, but we’re going to go ahead.”

UNC-Maryland History​

Where to even begin with all the history-making No. 1 North Carolina (4-0) did in its 19-6 win over No. 11 Maryland (1-2) on Saturday?

Tar Heels midfielder Scottie Rose Growney scored a career-best six goals on 12 shots, the most any North Carolina player has scored against the Terrapins since Erin McGinnis in 1999. Growney earned a host of accolades for her show-stopping performance, including IWLCA Player of the Week and ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

North Carolina’s 19 goals were the most its ever scored against Maryland and the most the Terrapins have allowed since an April 28, 2006, loss to Duke in the ACC tournament.

The Tar Heels are now off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 2014, a season that finished with a 15-6 record and a run to the NCAA quarterfinals. They’ll look to make it 5-0 on Saturday when they take on No. 6 Virginia, which lost to Richmond in a thriller Wednesday night.

For Maryland, the loss came exactly one week after it dropped a 15-14 loss on the road to No. 9 Florida. The Terrapins are moving through relatively uncharted territory — they haven’t lost two games in a row since the 2006 season, the year before Cathy Reese took over as head coach — and they’ve got another big-time opponent waiting in No. 4 Syracuse, who they’ll face on the road Friday afternoon.

The Upsets of the Upsetters

It’s been a heck of a start to the 2019 season in terms of upsets — we’ve seen a host of upsets of top 10 teams, and we’re only a few weeks in.

Now comes even more fun: the upsets of the upsetters.

Then-No. 14 Loyola’s blistering 17-6 takedown of No. 2 Florida on Saturday was that exactly, just a week after the Gators had pulled off a surprise 15-14 win over then-No. 2 Maryland. It was the Greyhounds’ biggest victory over a top-5 team since March 29, 1997 — before many of the players on this year’s team were even born.

Loyola (3-0) is no stranger to big upsets. The Greyhounds beat Florida in similar fashion in 2019, pulling off a 15-12 win over the then-No. 5 Gators that moved them up to No. 12 in the country. But they followed up that emphatic game with a tough 15-11 loss to No. 4 Syracuse a few days later.

What comes next in 2020 promises to be even more interesting. Loyola skyrocketed nine places up the Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20 to No. 5 in the nation after the win over the Gators, and its next game is against No. 16 Penn State, a team that rode a hot 4-0 start into the national ranking for the first time this week.

The match-up between Nittany Lions goalie Taylor Suplee, who had a career-high 20 saves in her team’s win over Cornell, and Greyhounds star scorer Sam Fielder, whose seven goals powered the effort against Florida, should be an exciting one. They’ll go head-to-head Saturday at 1 p.m. EST on BTN Plus. Check out our TV Listings guide for more games to watch.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

14

Years since Richmond had claimed a win over its in-state rival, Virginia. The Spiders made history in overtime on Wednesday, upsetting the No. 6 Cavaliers 13-12 thanks to a show-stopping goal from freshman Lindsey Frank with six seconds left in the second half of the extra period. The win extended Richmond’s hot start to 5-0, the best in program history.

13

Draw controls for sophomore attacker Maddie Jenner in Duke’s 20-8 win over William & Mary on Wednesday night. Jenner has taken over primary duties in the circle for the Blue Devils this season and is the nation’s leading draw controller, averaging more than 11 per game. As a team, Duke averages more than 20 draw controls per game, best in the ACC.

8

Where Syracuse’s scoring offense and scoring defense rank nationally. The Orange are one of four teams in the country ranked in the top 10 for goals scored and goals allowed — North Carolina, Richmond and Notre Dame are the others. Both will be put to the test on Friday when Syracuse welcomes a Maryland team looking to avoid its first three-game losing streak of the Cathy Reese era.