Army Football had their Pro Day yesterday, and we had Lynn Fern on the scene taking pictures and conducting interviews.
#AsForLax: Beat UNC and Lafayette!
Army Women’s Lax beat #4 Stanford Wednesday afternoon, 12-9, thereby earning the best win in program history. The Black Knights got out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but Stanford tied it up by halftime, 5-5. However, the Black Knights outscored the Cardinal in both the 3rd and 4th quarters and then successfully ran out the clock late. This was awesome stuff!
Army star Brigid Duffy went off, putting up 6 points on 2 goals and 4 assists, plus 5 caused turnovers, 8 draw controls, and 2 ground balls. A Allison Reilly scored 5 goals and added 2 assists. Really, though, the pictures tell the story. Lynn did an outstanding job getting those — despite some late snow!
The Women play Lafayette on Saturday and American after that. They have #25 Navy on April 12.
More pics from this awesome win are available on our Patreon page!
Army’s Men host the #5 University of North Carolina Tarheels this Saturday, starting at noon on ESPN+. Army Men’s Lax had six players named to the Nike Mid-Season All-American list, currently own the most efficient defense in the country, and clocked in at #9 nationally in the most recent polls. They are nevertheless coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss to #17 Boston University.
The Black Knights will need to find their feet quickly. They face a good-looking UNC team that’s put up a lot of points and beaten some really good teams this year.
Tarheel Attacks Owen Duffy and Dominic Pietramala lead UNC with 65 points collectively on a whopping 50 goals plus 15 assists. M Ty English adds 14 goals and 2 assists. These guys really score a lot! On defense, UNC Goalie Michael Gianforcaro has made 72 saves against 127 shots-on-goal (57%). He absolutely caught fire last week, saving fully 82% of the shots he saw in the Tarheels’ win over High Point.
Will we see Army All-American FOGO Will Coletti this week? UNC FOGO Brady Wambach has won 120/182 faceoffs this season (66%!) alongside 70 (!) ground balls.
This contest promises to be one of strength-on-strength, with Army’s elite defense facing one of the very best offenses in the country. But if the Black Knights can keep the Tarheels’ attack in check, they have a very real chance to shock the world this weekend.
Looking Forward
Army’s hopes of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament have never been particularly strong this season. That’s not really their fault. They scheduled Yale and Rutgers as out-of-conference opponents, but neither of those programs has had a particularly strong season. The same is true within the Patriot League. Boston University and Colgate both look good, but neither has looked great — at least not against national-level competition — while Loyola and Lehigh have both struggled quite a bit overall. But this leaves the Black Knights very little margin for error during regular season play
Any possible hope that the Black Knights have for an at-large bid rests firmly on this weekend’s game against UNC. If Army can get a signature win over a Top 5 team, beat Navy, and then make it to the Patriot League finals, then maybe an at-large bid might be on the table. However, a loss this weekend will mean that they absolutely must win the Patriot League to advance.
Truth is, the Black Knights probably should win the League regardless. But as we saw last week, anything can happen in a close contest against a talented opponent, especially one who’s familiar with a particular team’s style of play. Army lost to BU, but then #1 Maryland also lost to unranked Michigan.
In-conference rivalries can be a bitch.
Another home battle on deck this weekend 💪#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/Mo0npLhFi1
— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) March 26, 2025
NCAA Tournament aside, though, this weekend represents Army’s opportunity to show just how good they can be. National eyes will be on this game. The Black Knights will want to make a statement. They have the talent to do it, too. Now they just need to make it happen.
Go Army! Beat UNC!!!
