Alyssa Chung grew up with Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium as the backdrop to her springs and summers.
Severna Park born and raised, Chung led Severna Park High School to the Class 3A girls’ lacrosse state title as a junior in 2023, when she scored 75 goals and earned Capital Gazette 2023 Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year honors.
Navy wanted her in its program and Chung answered the call to serve and show out, adding a significant piece to a women’s lacrosse program looking to redefine itself.
All she did in her first season was help the Midshipmen (15-6) win their first Patriot League tournament title since 2018 and reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. The 5-foot-7 attacker was named Patriot League Rookie of the Year and an honorable mention All-American by USA Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Chung said. “The Naval Academy is a completely different animal than most Patriot League schools. … I didn’t go in with high expectations for myself. I’m a realist. I didn’t expect to have 66 goals, but I was happy, though.”
Chung’s season accolades rival that of entire careers for some. She was named conference Rookie of the Week a record seven times. She earned first-team all-conference honors. She was also named one of the 10 best freshmen in the country by Inside Lacrosse.
All the Mids needed to do was look in their backyard to find the centerpiece of the program moving forward.
“It was incredible,” Navy head coach Cindy Timchal said. “… To have that ability that Alyssa has and her desire to serve and be part of Navy women’s lacrosse and the Naval Academy, it was extraordinarily exciting for our program, our coaching staff and our athletic department.”
Chung finished her freshman season with 66 goals and 15 assists for a team-leading 81 points. She was tied for 15th in Division I in goals and 34th in points, cementing one of the greatest freshman seasons in Navy women’s lacrosse history.
“Culturally, our mission is to play for each minute, play for each other, play unselfishly,” Timchal said. “The only expectation that we always think about is that good things will happen. … Alyssa has only touched the surface of what she can do on the lacrosse field. She’s incredibly talented with a high lacrosse IQ.”
Chung mentioned that she wasn’t playing to her potential through the first several games of the season, but once March and April came around, she was hitting her stride, much like the team.
Chung said it all came together during Navy’s 14-13 loss on the road to then-No. 6 Florida on March 12. From that point, she took off. She scored 53 goals in the Mids’ final 14 games.
However, if there was a game that meant the most to her, it was Navy’s conference tournament semifinal against No. 19 Army, a rematch from April when the Black Knights took down the Mids, 17-12.
The semifinal was a much different result, a dominant 18-9 win to help Navy reach the tournament final. After that, the Mids upset then-No. 15 Loyola in a thrilling 14-13 overtime victory as Chung scored a game-high five goals. That win snapped the Greyhounds’ streak of four straight conference tournament titles.
“That first game, everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong,” Chung said. “… We bounced back from that Army loss better than any other loss this season. The energy going into that game was great. Everybody on the team knew we were going to win. It was crazy.”
With Chung at the forefront of this new-look Navy team, there’s a lot to look forward to in Annapolis.
“All I want to do right now is go out and shoot, go out and play,” Chung said. “… I had so much fun with my team. I’m happy with how we did, but there’s no such thing as being satisfied.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Navy Athletics
Originally published June 18, 2025