Joe Lennon. NAAA photo by Phil Hoffmann.

Sophomore midfielder Joe Lennon enjoyed a career day as he paced the Midshipmen with two goals and a pair of assists. It marked the first time in his young career that he has recorded a multi-point, multi-goal or multi-assist performance. Meanwhile, senior Gregory Clement also scored a pair of goals and classmate Nick Mirabito extended his points streak to 50 of his last 51 games by turning in a goal and two assists.

Due to the rain-soaked turf and the pouring rain, both teams had a difficult time holding onto the ball early in the game. In fact, the two programs combined to commit 14 turnovers in the first 15 minutes of the contest.

The two teams finally settled down and into an offense after the first five minutes and Navy got on the scoreboard when Lennon found an opening past Lafayette keeper Jeff Canfield at the 8:30 mark. Just under two minutes elapsed when Mirabito sat behind the goal and found Clement standing on the crease, giving Navy a 2-0 advantage.

The Mids pushed their lead to 4-0 when junior Shane Durkin and Lennon scored back-to-back goals a minute apart from nearly the same position on the field. Lennon’s shot was perfectly placed as he was able to bounce it through Canfield’s legs for his second score of the day at 8:51.

To Lafayette’s credit, it remained poised and freshman attack Tom Perini, like so many times this season, carried the torch to get his Leopards back into the game. Working with second-year attack Matt Mersky, Perini punched in back-to-back goals at 6:52 and 4:09 to narrow the Mids’ lead to just two.

Navy answered, however, as Mirabito fed sophomore attack Tim Paul at the crease and Paul was forced to shoot the ball from over his shoulder, surprising Canfield as the ball rippled the back of the net to give Navy a 5-2 lead with three minutes remaining in the half.

With 2:02 to go, the Mersky-Perini combination struck once again with Perini turning in the hat trick to cut Navy’s lead to 5-3 heading into the half.

The Midshipmen opened the second half with a quick strike from Clement, who fired off a 10-yard shot from the left side off Lennon’s pass. Though Navy struck quickly, it would be the only goal scored in the period by either team, as the Mids’ defense held the Leopards to just one shot in the third.

Lafayette cut into Navy’s lead just eight seconds into the final stanza when Mersky was found to be in the right place at the right time. He picked up a ground ball on the doorstep after Navy’s Matt Coughlin stopped a Lafayette shot, but was unable to reel it in. Mersky grabbed the grounder and poked it in. The Leopards got as close as just one goal with 10 minutes remaining in the game when starting middie Steve Serling scored an unassisted goal.

Less than 90 seconds later, Lennon fed sophomore midfielder Patrick Moran to push Navy’s lead to two and Mirabito fired in his lone goal of the day to seal the win for the Mids with 4:18 remaining.

Navy’s defense played a stellar game, holding the Leopards scoreless in the first and third quarters. For the game, Lafayette got off just 22 shots with Coughlin making a career-high nine stops, including back-to-back point-blank saves in the opening quarter against Mersky.

Navy’s faceoff specialists also enjoyed a successful afternoon where senior Mikelis Visgauss and sophomore Frankie Coppola combined to win 12 of the 17 draws.

Navy, who has won 14 consecutive Patriot League contests, is now 32-2 against Patriot League opponents since joining the league in 2004. Additionally, the Mids improve to 4-1 in Patriot League openers, including a 3-0 mark against Lafayette.

The Mids will be back in action March 11 when they play host to Patriot League foe Lehigh. Action is set for 3 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Voice of Navy Lacrosse, Pete Medhurst, will call the action and can be heard via the internet only at www.wnav.com.