Navy did not look like the country's 18th-ranked men's lacrosse team during the first half against Air Force on Saturday. The Midshipmen were sluggish and surprisingly sloppy, unable to scoop a ground ball or connect a simple pass.

The Mids woke up and got things together in the second half, better resembling the squad that expects to contend for the Patriot League championship and an NCAA tournament berth.

Senior attackman Patrick Keena scored three goals and had three assists as Navy rallied to defeat the Falcons, 10-6, in the season opener for both schools before an announced 1,606 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Freshman midfielder Greyson Torain had a hat trick while sophomore attackman Jack Ray added two goals for the Midshipmen, who fell behind 2-0 early in the first quarter and were forced to play catch-up until late in the third quarter.

Faceoff specialist Brady Dove was instrumental in turning things around for Navy, which outscored the visitors 8-1 in the second half. Dove captured 12 of 19 draws.

“What can I say? I guess that was a tale of two halves,” Mids coach Rick Sowell said.

Navy picked up the pace midway through the third quarter and took over. Ray scored twice and Keena had a goal and an assist as Navy outscored Air Force 4-0 in the decisive period.

Sophomore attackman Chris Walsch (Gilman) totaled two goals and an assist for the Falcons, who led 5-2 at halftime. Air Force won the ground-ball battle in the first half, but the Mids dominated that category 22-13 in the second half.

“At halftime, we said that we needed the ground ball. We felt like we slapped it around in the first half,” Sowell said. “We came out in the second half and our faceoff guy led the way. We needed to chip away and figure out their defense, and we needed the ball in order to do that.”

Keena asserted himself in the second half, driving hard from behind the goal. Keena turned the corner and found Ray wide open near the crease for a goal that cut the deficit to 5-3 early in the third quarter.

Six minutes later, Keena beat his man from behind and extended the goal line before stopping and firing a high overhand shot to pull Navy within one.

“We had to get it going. The coaching staff expects us to handle adversity and that's what we went out and did,” said Keena, the Mids' leading scorer last season.

Torain tied the score at 5 on a nice individual move, beating a short stick from up top and getting to the middle of the field for a left-handed shot that beat goalie Doug Gouchoe low to the stick side.

Ray gave Navy its first lead of the game, 6-5 with 2:17 left in the third, on a blistering sidearm crank shot from the left wing. Torain continued the onslaught early in the fourth quarter, using a devastating stop-and-go move to juke a long pole — gaining time and space for a 10-yard shot that made it 7-5.

Sowell has praised Torain throughout preseason, and the DeMatha graduate proved as good as advertised.

“We've seen it in practice. We've seen it in scrimmages. Greyson's a very talented player who is really just scratching the surface for how good he can be,” Sowell said. “Once he got that first goal, he exhaled and was able to settle in and play the type of lacrosse we've been seeing since October.”

Attackman Nick Hruby got loose on the crease for a goal that got Air Force back within one at 7-6, but Keena scored two goals in a span of four minutes to put the game away. Torain sealed the win by scoring into an empty net after Air Force used the goalie to play shut-off.

Long-stick midfielder Matt Rees collected seven ground balls and caused six turnovers to lead the defense for the Mids.

“Time of possession definitely swung in our favor in that second half, which always helps your defense,” Sowell said. “We did make an adjustment at halftime. We decided to press out on the adjacent looks. As you saw, they were very content with passing the ball around. They were waiting for us to make a mistake and then were going to pounce on it.”

Sophomore attackman Andrew Tien had a goal and an assist for the Falcons, who look like they will be a contender for the Southern Conference championship in their debut season.