UMass Drops 17-16 Heartbreaker at Sixth-Seeded Navy in NCAA Tournament

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Massachusetts	5	3	4	4	16
Navy	2	4	8	3	17

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A back-and-forth instant classic saw plenty of twists and turns, with the score tied at 15 and 16, but it was sixth-seeded Navy who scored the game-winning goal with 35 seconds remaining to hand UMass a 17-16 defeat in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday. Dylan Lyons was sensational offensively with career highs in goals (5) and points (8), while goalkeeper Bayley Duffy made seven saves and had a career high four caused turnovers.

Ultimately, Navy's 25-9 edge in draw controls hurt, although the Minutewomen found a way to make enough defensive saves to give themselves a chance until the final seconds.

Lyons' eight points gave her 79 on the season behind 55 goals and 24 assists. Ava Connaughton had five via two goals and three assists. Kassidy Morris scored three goals to finish the season with a UMass record 104 points. She finished her storied career with a program-record 247 career goals, to go with 75 assists and 322 points, second in UMass history.

Morris' magical season continues ?

With her first goal of the day, Kassidy Morris a breaks the single season points record!#Flagship ?? pic.twitter.com/ibCEOgv1Gb
— UMass Women's Lacrosse (@UMassLacrosse) May 8, 2026

Katie Peterson had two goals and an assist, while Lil Hancock scored twice as well.

"This team played the entire 60 minutes," said head coach Jana Drummond. "They left it all on the field. I'm just so proud of the relentless effort and the fact that they played for each other and they didn't give up the entire time. I'm so proud of everything they put out there, the way they played for each other and played as a family."

MAC Defensive Player of the Year Briget Valentine impressed with two groundballs, two draw controls and two caused turnovers. Cate Marshall's five draw controls led the team. The Minutewomen held Tewaaraton Award finalist, Navy's Alyssa Chung, to just two goals and two assists. Four marked her lowest point total in a game since Mar. 25.

Navy scored first, but the Minutewomen responded with five of the next six goals to end the first quarter. Morris scored twice, as did Lyons in that stretch, with Peterson scoring the other. Lyons assisted Morris at 3:18, then scored herself at the 1:09 mark for a 5-2 lead after one quarter of play.

The Midshipmen pulled within 5-3 early in the second, but Connaughton assisted Katie Onderdonk, then Brigid Manning, for a 7-3 lead with 8:10 on the clock.

Navy answered with three of the next four goals over the final 5:37 of the stanza, to pull within 8-6 after 30 minutes of play.

Connaughton heating up ??

Ava nets her second goal of the half!

UMass 10, Navy 6 | 12:45, 3rd pic.twitter.com/pKg8bTvpvR
— UMass Women's Lacrosse (@UMassLacrosse) May 8, 2026

Connaughton opened the third quarter with consecutive goals for a 10-6 Minutewomen lead. A few minutes later, Lyons gave UMass an 11-8 advantage. However, Navy responded just 45 seconds later, sparking a 6-0 Mids' run in the span of 7:08, from five different goal scorers. Just like that, Navy led, 14-11.

Connaughton heating up ??

Ava nets her second goal of the half!

UMass 10, Navy 6 | 12:45, 3rd pic.twitter.com/pKg8bTvpvR
— UMass Women's Lacrosse (@UMassLacrosse) May 8, 2026

Hancock responded with her second, up a player, with 29 seconds remaining to pull within 14-12 after three quarters of play.

That sparked a 4-1 UMass run. Morris followed with her third of the game, and Lyon netted two goals in 23 seconds to pull even at 15 with 7:42 left in regulation. Her second in that stretch came off a caused turnover on one end, and ended with Heather Clark finding Lyons with a perfect pass on the other.

DEFENSE ?? OFFENSE. DYLAN LYONS FIFTH GOAL.

ALL TIED UP WITH 8 MINUTES TO GO!#Flagship ?? pic.twitter.com/0dMkIUazKl
— UMass Women's Lacrosse (@UMassLacrosse) May 8, 2026

"We never give up," said Lyons. "We left everything out on the field. We emptied the tank; it didn't go our way, but I think we left everything out there."

Navy took a 16-15 lead at 6:53, but UMass again answered as Peterson netted her second. In the final minutes, the Minutewomen had a chance to take a lead, but couldn't convert. The Mids scored the go-ahead goal with 35 seconds on the clock. After a UMass draw control win and timeout, Lyons had a free-position chance with 12 seconds remaining. Her shot hit the post, Lyons collected the groundball, but couldn't get another shot off as Navy held on.

Final shots were 39-29 in favor of Navy with UMass holding a 20-17 edge in groundballs. Duffy's seven saves came across Midshipmen goalkeeper Felicia Giglio, who made four.

The Minutewomen conclude their season at 16-3 with their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and third in the last four years. UMass won the MAC regular season and tournament championships in its first year in the conference and advanced to a conference championship game for an 18th straight season. The Minutewomen entered Friday with the No. 2 scoring offense and No. 3 scoring defense in the nation, proving to be one of the nation's top teams on both sides of the ball.

"We have a couple people graduating and then everyone else is returning," said Drummond. "It's so exciting for all the returners who get to come back and feel the emotion, feel what its' going to take to get us better and work even harder in the out-of-conference season and play for each other. This was an awesome game for us to have that experience, learn from it and grow from it."

Scoreboard