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Opening day of the 2026 NCAA Division I women's lacrosse season is Feb. 6.
Throughout the month of January, we'll pose three burning questions for each team ranked in the USA Lacrosse Division I Women's Preseason Top 20, presented by CWENCH Hydration, starting with No. 20 James Madison and finishing with No. 1 North Carolina.
Join the conversation on social media @USALMag (IG/X/FB). Wrong answers only.
Hall of Fame head coach Cindy Timchal hasn’t lost more than two regular-season Patriot League games in a year since being named Navy’s inaugural head coach in 2008.
The NCAA’s all-time winningest head coach doesn’t plan on having that regular-season success dwindle this upcoming year, but more importantly, she wants to capture Navy’s first back-to-back Patriot League title since 2018.
Timchal’s 2025 team broke Loyola’s four-year-long Patriot League title streak with an exhilarating 14-13 win over the Greyhounds in the conference championship game. The Mids return three out of their four top goal scorers from that team, including junior midfielder Mikayla Williams, who scored the game-winning goal against Loyola.
The Mids completed a rigorous fall ball schedule, which included matchups against Boston College, Duke, Clemson, North Carolina and more.
Here are three questions surrounding Navy as the spring season draws near.
Inside Lacrosse five-star recruit Alyssa Chung did not disappoint as a freshman last year, scoring 66 goals with 15 assists en route to being named the Patriot League Rookie of the Year. Even with her instant success, Timchal believes Chung will have an even better season as a sophomore.
“She’s always looking for ways to improve her game and to lift the team up,” Timchal said. “It’s never something that’s not on her mind.”
Chung was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week seven times, which set a conference record. The 5-foot-7 lefty scored at least five goals in six games last season, including the Patriot League championship win, and earned honorable mention All-America honors.
Her 66 goals were 11 shy of tying Navy’s single-season goal record, and while she isn’t exactly a record chaser, 78 goals could be in play for Chung next season.
She’s always looking for ways to improve her game and to lift the team up.
Navy coach Cindy Timchal on sophomore attacker Alyssa Chung
Alongside Chung is a plethora of returning talent.
To start things off, Williams notched 65 points while scoring on 53 percent of her shots. Eighty-three percent of her shots on frame beat opposing goalies, and her lack of turnovers adds to her efficiency. Williams turned the ball over just 19 times and only had five games with multiple turnovers. Her efficiency should continue to complement Chung’s aggressiveness.
Senior Emma Kennedy will help round out the attack for the Mids, who scored 43 goals on top of 11 assists last season. Navy’s two most significant losses offensively were Emily Messinese (43G, 26A) and second-team All-American defender/draw specialist Alyssa Daley.
The latter had broken her own draw control record with 236 wins last year and was a major factor in gaining possession for Navy’s 17th-ranked scoring offense. Timchal mentioned senior Maura Murphy as Daley’s potential replacement in the circle. Murphy had won 26 draws as a freshman before battling injuries during her next two seasons with the Mids.
The Mids will likely be the favorite out of the Patriot League with Loyola losing its starting goalie, multiple starting defenders, its leading goal scorer and first-team All-American midfielder Chase Boyle. But the Greyhounds typically find a way to compete for a title, and Army is just as tough a team to beat down the stretch of a season. Navy had split results with Army and Loyola last season.
When asked about defending Navy’s Patriot League title, Timchal said she doesn’t believe in defending anything. She feels that any chatter about defending something puts her team back on its heels and that 2026 is a new opportunity.
The Mids start their season with arguably their toughest non-conference matchup of the year against Virginia before playing Villanova on Feb. 14. The Mids haven’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2019 and haven’t earned an at-large bid since that same year.
Navy’s offense has the potential to lead them to a repeat Patriot League title, or even further.
Hayden Hundley has been involved with lacrosse since he was 6 years old and was brought on as Editorial Intern at USA Lacrosse in May 2025. He has covered Virginia men’s lacrosse with Streaking the Lawn, scouted DMV talent with Prep Lacrosse and was formerly the Sports Editor for James Madison’s student newspaper "The Breeze."
