Navy Team

Navy's freshmen attackmen combined for eight goals and four assists in the team's 14-8 victory over the Virginia Military Institute last Saturday. Coach Richie Meade is emphatic in his belief that his group of first-year players can match that production for the remainder of the season. "The expectation here is what it is," Meade said. "Everybody has to stop saying they're freshmen. They're Navy lacrosse players, and we've got a team, and we expect to win. That's really the way it is. Those are the guys we're putting on the field, and our expectation is that they're going to keep getting better, they're going to keep working hard.

The Navy men's lacrosse team will be the first area program to begin the 2011 campaign when the Virginia Military Institute visits Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis on Saturday. As far as Andy Warner is concerned, the season opener couldn't come soon enough. "I'd prefer to start in the second week that we get here [after winter break]," the senior midfielder said. "We have a lot to get done and lot to learn in those three short weeks, but getting started early helps to get a little confidence going and get our first game under our belts, especially with this young team that we have.

RICKY THE RECORD-BREAKER: A year after scoring 27 touchdowns and setting the single-season NCAA record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback -- breaking the mark held by former Florida star Tim Tebow and Air Force's Chance Harridge -- senior Ricky Dobbs needs 25 more to break the career mark set by Nebraska's Eric Crouch. Both Tebow and Crouch won the Heisman Trophy. Dobbs will likely finish as Navy's all-time leader in touchdowns, rushing touchdowns, points and yards per pass attempt.

The streak is now at 36 wins and counting. No. 10 Johns Hopkins outscored No. 11 Navy by five goals in the second quarter to turn a close game into a rout as the Blue Jays continued their dominance over the Midshipmen in college lacrosse with a 15-7 victory Saturday before an announced 6,925 at Homewood Field. It was one of the largest margins of victory in the series by Hopkins (9-4), and it came against a Navy team (6-4) that had won three straight, and seven of its past eight games.

Chris Harris scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures as host Navy defeated Wofford, 75-70, last night. Adam Teague scored 16 points for Navy (10-4), which shot 50 percent to improve to 7-0 at home this season. The Midshipmen have won 10 nonconference games in a season for only the third time since joining the Patriot League in 1991-92. Kaleo Kina (10 points) helped seal the victory for Navy by going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 36 seconds. Tim Johnson had a career high 20 points for the Terriers (4-5)

What went right Navy's offense worked like a precision-tuned watch most of the afternoon. Two of the most impressive performances came early and late. With eight minutes left in the first quarter, the Mids began a drive that covered 85 yards in 19 plays and lasted 8:04. It was Navy's longest drive this season. And in the third overtime, Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada needed just two passes, both to Reggie Campbell, one for a 25-yard touchdown and the other for a two-point conversion that wound up being the difference.

Sunday's 24th annual showdown between St. John's College and the U.S. Naval Academy is of the most collegial and civilized kind - a croquet match - but that doesn't mean the stakes aren't high. The Navy team won narrowly last year in an upset, 3-2, since traditionally the Johnnies triumph on their own turf - the games are always played on the three-century-old campus, which has a serene lawn facing College Avenue. The so-called imperial wicket, or captain, of the St. John's College team, Matt Mangold, says that's not likely to happen again.

COLLEGE PARK -- It's been about four years since Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen and Navy coach Paul Johnson ate dinner together at Famous Dave's restaurant in Annapolis. The two had just left the annual Annapolis Touchdown Club banquet. "I was trying to tell him we should play each other," Friedgen said. "He didn't want to play. I said, `You're going to turn this thing around and it's going to be a great series. It's going to be great for both programs.' " "I had just gotten here," Johnson said.

Ara Parseghian stepped into a time warp Saturday afternoon as he stood on the field at Notre Dame Stadium ready to present the American flag to the honor guard before the team's home game against Stanford. It could have been 1964, the year Parseghian came to South Bend from Northwestern and began 11 seasons in the human fishbowl that accompanies coaching the Fighting Irish. "Seeing what used to be a 60,000-seat stadium and now is an 80,000-seat stadium, all I think is that you have more people who are just as enthusiastic as they've ever been," Parseghian said by telephone earlier this week.

Navy coach Paul Johnson has had nearly two weeks to drive home the point that Notre Dame has superior talent to his own - as usual. "We don't have anybody on our team that Notre Dame recruited. I don't know if we have anybody on our team that Notre Dame sent a letter to," Johnson said, repeating a point he has emphasized since the Midshipmen moved to 5-0 with their dramatic victory at Air Force. But at least one player received token interest from the Irish. "I took an unofficial visit there in my junior year [in high school]