Opponents have been routinely face-guarding and double-teaming Kelly Larkin so far this season. Despite dealing with those tactics, Navy’s standout attacker was not pleased with her play through two games, managing only two goals on just seven shots.

Larkin broke out of what she described as an early-season slump by piling up seven points to lift No. 20 Navy to a thrilling 14-13 victory over Towson on Saturday afternoon. Larkin scored four goals and dished off three assists for the Midshipmen, who survived a late rally by the Tigers.

“It was definitely a nice win. I think it was a win we really needed coming off the last two games,” Larkin said. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start this season, especially myself. I think today was the first time I saw a lot of the little things we’ve been working on in practice start to fall together.”

Navy lost three of its top four goal-scorers from last season with the graduation of the Collins twins and the decision of Meg O’Donnell to stop playing lacrosse. That made it easier for defenses to focus on Larkin, who amassed 117 points in 2018.

Larkin was content to serve as playmaker in the season-opening loss at Virginia, serving up four assists while scoring just one goal. The Alexandria native managed only one goal against St. Joseph’s as well, but added two more assists as Navy rallied for a one-goal victory.

“Defenders have been working really hard to shut me down and I kind of let it get to my head in those first couple games,” Larkin said. “Going into today I wanted to have an optimistic view of things and just try to control what I can control.”

Junior midfielders Kayla Harris and Annalise Heyward both made big contributions for Navy, which was meeting Towson for the first time in program history.

Harris, a Broadneck High graduate, totaled three goals and two assists while garnering 10 draw controls. Heyward scored three goals, assisted another and gobbled up six ground balls.

Freshman midfielder Reagan Roelofs scored two goals while senior attacker Andie O’Sullivan contributed a goal and assist for Navy (2-1), which overcame 23 turnovers.

“For some reason we were out of sync and played a little tight, hence a lot of what I call red zone turnovers,” Navy head coach Cindy Timchal said. “Towson is a physical team that played us tough with great zone defense led by a solid goaltender.”

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