Bragging rights will be on the line this Saturday when 13th-ranked Navy (8-3, 3-2 Patriot League) battles arch rival Army (5-6, 1-3 PL) in the opening game of the Smartlink Day of Rivals ... the 87th edition of the Army-Navy game is slated for an 11:30 am faceoff at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

Perhaps the two most storied rivalries in college lacrosse have been paired for a spectacular event. The Army-Navy game will be followed by the 105th playing of the Johns Hopkins-Maryland contest (2:00 pm). It's the first time the Star Game will be played on neutral ground.

Senior Bruce Nechanicky led Navy with three goals and an assist, while classmates Tommy Phelan and Andy Tormey anchored a defensive effort that held Maryland to a season-low four goals as the Mids earned a 10-4 victory over No. 8 Maryland last Friday night in front of 15,109 fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium ... the six-goal win was the largest margin of victory by Navy over the Terps since 1992 when the Midshipmen earned an 11-3 win ... meanwhile, the last time Navy scored double digits against Maryland was in 1995 when the Terps defeated the Mids, 19-11.

Army is struggling to get out of a funk that has seen it drop each of its last three games, including back-to-back contests against Patriot League foes Colgate and Bucknell ... the Bison scored five straight goals to end the first half and open the second en route to capturing an 8-6 win over the Black Knights at West Point last weekend.

Saturday's game will be televised by ESPNU with Rob Simmelkjaer (play by play), former Virginia All-American Matt Ward (analyst)?and former Army head coach Jack Emmer (analyst) calling the action ... Melissa Knowles will patrol the sidelines for added commentary.

Additionally, the contest will be broadcast over the radio waves by (WNAV 1430 AM, WFED 1050 AM) with Pete Medhurst handling the call, beginning with the Navy lacrosse pregame show at 11:00 am ... in addition, the game will be streamed online (audio only) with live stats available at NavySports.com.

Previewing Army

• Army, who owns a 5-6 record under fourth-year head coach Joe Alberici, has experienced some of the same woes as Navy this season when it comes to tight games ... four of Army's six losses have been by one point with three of the four going into extra minutes.

• The Black Knights have lost four of their last five games, including three in a row.

• They are fighting to keep their Patriot League Tournament hopes alive ... at 1-3, Army is in a must-win situation to stay in contention for one of the two final spots available in the tournament at the end of April.

• Sophomore keeper Tom Palesky has stepped in nicely this season where he owns an 8.28 goals-against average to go along with a 62.3 save percentage, the nation's sixth-best average ... as a team, Army is ranked third in the country, averaging 13.91 saves per game.

• The attack combination of Jason Peyer and Jeremy Boltus has paid dividends for Army ... Peyer has scored a team-high 26 goals and added 12 assists for 38 points, while Boltus is second on the team with 36 points on 20 goals and a team-best 16 helpers ... Peyer is ranked 15th in goals per game (2.36) and 18th in points per game (3.45).

• Senior Sean Reppard mans the faceoff load, winning 94 of the 204 draws (.461) he has taken ... he leads the team with 35 ground balls.

• Army's man down defense is ranked 56th out of 59 teams in Div. I lax ... the Black Knights are stopping just 46.2 percent of the extra-man opportunities.

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2009-04-09