Since joining the Patriot League in 2014, Loyola Maryland women’s lacrosse has been an almost unstoppable juggernaut. Coming into this week, the Greyhounds had suffered just three losses to conference opponents and had never fallen during the regular season.

Navy is the only Patriot League program that has been able to beat Loyola, doing so in the 2017 and 2018 Patriot League Tournament championship games and again in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

Navy got a total team effort and played the full four quarters coach Cindy Timchal said was needed — and it still wasn’t enough.

Senior attacker Georgia Latch piled up 10 points and captured 10 draw controls as 18th-ranked Loyola outlasted No. 25 Navy in an epic matchup, 20-19 in overtime, on a chilly, windswept night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Freshman midfielder Mim Suares-Jury scored the game-winning goal with 1:05 remaining in sudden victory to end the three-hour marathon. Suares-Jury drove hard to the right and unleashed a running sidearm shot that beat Navy goalie Felicia Giglio stick-side high.

“That’s a really tough loss for Navy women’s lacrosse. I don’t know if it’s a curse or what. I thought we played our hearts out. You could see that on the field,” Timchal said. “I don’t know what else to say. Just give credit to the team that just kept fighting, fighting and fighting.”

Latch scored five goals and dished off five assists for Loyola (7-5, 4-0), which outscored Navy 7-3 in the third quarter to erase a three-goal halftime deficit. Latch also led the way as the Greyhounds won 9 of 11 draws in the third period.

Junior midfielder Elisa Faklaris scored four goals for Loyola, which now boasts a 106-3 (.972) overall record against conference opponents, including an unblemished 88-0 mark in regular season games. Junior attacker Ava Kane totaled three goals and two assists for the Greyhounds, who gained the inside track on hosting the Patriot League Tournament.

Loyola has now won 55 straight games against Patriot League opponents since its last loss to Navy.

“It’s a pretty unbelievable streak and it speaks to the student-athletes we’ve had come through this program for many, many years,” Loyola coach Jen Adams said.

Sophomore midfielder Mikayla Williams and freshman attacker Alyssa Chung both amassed six points on five goals and an assist to lead Navy (7-4, 2-1), which is now 3-16 against Loyola. Senior attackers Emily Messinese and Tori DiCarlo both had hat tricks for the Mids.

“It is uncanny. We had our best opportunity right here and now [to beat Loyola],” Timchal said. “Walking off the field having not taken that victory… I’m sure it’s heartbreaking for the team, especially since we put ourselves in position to be victorious.”

It marked the first overtime game for both programs since Loyola beat Navy, 12-11, in last season’s Patriot League Tournament final. With 39 combined goals, it was the highest-scoring contest in series history — surpassing when Navy beat Loyola, 19-15, in the 2018 Patriot League Tournament championship.

“It was a game of offense tonight. I’m still mindblown because I think both teams have great defenders and great goalkeepers and I don’t know what just happened. It was crazy,” Loyola coach Adams said. “I do know that both Navy and Loyola have a lot of high-powered offensive players, so the scoring of the goals doesn’t surprise me. It was just how many.”

Chung fired in all five of her goals and DiCarlo notched her hat trick as Navy took a 13-10 halftime lead.Navy used sophomore defender Landen Cain to face-guard high-scoring midfielder Chase Boye, Loyola’s leading goal-scorer with 41. Boyle, who set a single-season school record with 85 goals in 2024, was held scoreless in the first half.

Boyle finally got loose and scored her first goal of the game, while Latch had a goal and an assist as Loyola opened the third quarter with a 3-0 run to tie the score at 13 with 6:53.

Navy didn’t blink and responded with Williams providing a personal 3-1 run as the see-saw affair continued in the second half.

“Lacrosse is a 60-minute game and there are always ebbs and flows. We just had to get back out there and chip away, start to play better defense and come up with some draw possessions,” Adams said. “It really was a game where if you had the ball, you had a good chance of putting it in the back of the net, so we knew draw controls would be important.”

Giglio and Loyola counterpart Lauren Spence started making saves as the scoring slowed during the third quarter and for the better part of the fourth. Giglio finished with a career-high 12 saves, while Spence recorded eight.

Williams assisted Emma Kennedy on a goal then scored off a free position as Navy took an 18-17 lead with 7:08 remaining in the game. Boyle scored on a strong charge to the cage and Talago tallied from inside as Loyola netted goals just over two minutes apart to reclaim the lead, 19-18 with 4:08 remaining in the game.

Navy got the ball for one final chance with 42.3 seconds left. After two off-target shots, Messinese got the ball on the restart and raced directly from the end line to the front of the net to score with just four seconds left and send the game into overtime.

After a scoreless first extra session, Loyola won the draw to start the second three-minute period and Giglio made a great save on a point-blank shot before Saures-Jury scored the game-winner.

“To trust and put it in the hands of a freshman and for Mim to take that shot and bury it was a pretty special moment,” Adams said. “I’d say gutsy is a great word to use for Mim.”

Navy is now 2-4 in games decided by two goals or less this season. The Midshipmen have scored a total of six goals in the fourth quarter in those four losses.

Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at bwagner@capgaznews.com, 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.