No. 4 Men's Rugby Blows Past West Virginia

Saturday, October 10

Morgantown, WV

1 PM

Army West Point

West Virginia

No. 4 Men's Rugby Blows Past West Virginia

October 10, 2015 | Men's Rugby

MORGANTOWN, WV – Taking to Morgantown, W.Va., for the second of five road contests to close out the season, the fourth-ranked Army West Point men's rugby team downed Rugby East opponent West Virginia 63-13 on Saturday afternoon.

Eight different Black Knights found the try zone on the afternoon as the team improved to 5-0 on the season.

Army got the jump early, as Andrew Borer scored in the seventh minute. Thomas Del Pino converted the kick and the Black Knights took the 7-0 lead. Del Pino would score a try of his own in the 20th minute to put the Cadets up 12-0.

Just four minutes later, Jack Ireland dotted down to put the game at 17-0 in favor of the Black Knights.

Captain Donny Goff found the try zone in the 32nd minute as Del Pino added his second conversion of the afternoon. West Virginia would score its first points of the game in the 36th minute, and freshman Torran Raby answered just two minutes later to send Army into the break with the 29-7 advantage.

Goff started the scoring for the Black Knights in the second half, recording his third try of the season and second of the game in the 43rd minute. Vice-captain Jacob Banarhall dotted down in the 54th minute as Del Pino converted both kicks.

"With a new blend of players taking the field, it was important that our captains and all of our senior players to look for leadership moments," said head coach Matt Sherman. "I think that Donny, Jake and other embraced the responsibility and helped steer the ship forward today."

West Virginia kicked for points in the 62nd minute to put the Army lead at 43-10.

Dom Mori found the try zone for his first of the season in the 64th minute, and the Mountaineers would again record a penalty just five minutes later, putting the Black Knights' lead at 48-13. Those would be the final points of the afternoon for the Mountaineers as Army closed out the game with 15 unanswered.

Ireland, Connor Parker and Del Pino scored in the 73rd, 75th and 77th minutes as Army earned the 63-13 victory.

"It is important for us to develop depth as a team for multiple reasons," said Sherman. "Fortunately for us, we have multiple guys deserving of opportunities through their level of commitment and play. It was great to see some new guys make the most of that opportunity today and push our depth and standard higher."

With the win, Army moves to 5-0 on the season, sitting in sole possession of first place in the Rugby East with 25 points. Each victory has come against a Rugby East opponent, as the team is in search of its second consecutive conference title.

Army will travel to New Rochelle, N.Y., next Saturday as they meet with No. 20 Iona. It will be the Black Knights' third meeting with a top-20 team as they previously knocked off No. 8 Penn State and No. 9 Wheeling Jesuit.

Last season, the Gales pushed the Black Knights to the brink, as Army earned a hard-fought 26-19 win under the lights at Anderson Rugby Complex. Iona jumped out to an early lead, but tries from David Huff, Jacob Banarhall and Andrew Fargo helped send the Black Knights to victory.

Visit www.GoArmyWestPoint.com for up-to-date information and follow the Black Knights on Twitter @ArmyWP_MRugby and Instagram @armywprugby.