Men’s Rugby Tops Navy in Final Match of Pool Play

Saturday, June 4

Philadelphia, Pa.

10:40 AM

Army West Point

Arizona

Men’s Rugby Tops Navy in Final Match of Pool Play

June 04, 2016 | Men's Rugby

CHESTER, Pa. – The Army West Point men's rugby team topped service academy rival Navy in its final match of Pool C play at the 2016 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championships, 21-10, on Saturday from Talen Energy Stadium. The event saw its highest single-day attendance in the event's history at 14,846.

The Black Knights fell to Arizona, 20-0, in the opening match, and dropped a 25-5 decision against St. Joe's in game two.

"We knew coming in that we were going to be the least experienced team in 7s in the tournament, and we just wanted to improve as the day went on," said head coach Matt Sherman. "I was really happy with the improvement from game one to game two, and especially from game two to game three. One of the areas we put extra emphasis on was getting the ball and keeping the ball.

"In that third game we wanted to focus on keeping it simple, making the game do the work and letting our athleticism come through. We did a good job of that, and I think we can be even better tomorrow."

The first match against Arizona match was highly contested for the first five minutes of play with both sides making pivotal defensive stops, but Arizona was able to capitalize in the sixth minute to break the scoreless tie. They would add one more in the waning seconds of the first half to take a 10-0 advantage into halftime.

The Wildcats added two more tries in the 12th and 14th minutes to close out the game.

Tony Smith broke through in the final seconds of the match and made a dash for the try line from midfield, but was tackled five yards shy.

Against St. Joe's, Jacob Banarhall kicked off the scoring with Army's first try of the day in the third minute. The Hawks were able to rebound, however, forcing multiple turnovers deep in the Army defensive zone. St. Joe's took a 10-5 advantage into halftime before scoring the only three tries of the second half.

Army faced off against its service academy rival Navy in the final match of the day. Jake Lachina opened the scoring with a try in the fourth minute with senior Andrew Borer being successful on his first of three conversions in the match. The Midshipmen would score before halftime, cutting the Cadets lead to 7-5 heading into the minute-long intermission.

The Black Knights came out with a quick two tries as Luke Heun scoring in the ninth minute and Torran Raby entering the try zone in the 11th minute. Navy added a try in the 12th minute to cap the game's scoring.

Army will play Tennessee on Sunday as the top seed of the shield bracket. The time for that match is TBA.

For more information on Army West Point men's rugby, visit GoArmyWestPoint.com and follow @ArmyWP_MRugby on Twitter.

SCORING RECAP (Arizona)
6th minute: Arizona try (5-0 Arizona)
7th minute: Arizona try (10-0 Arizona)
12th minute: Arizona try (15-0 Arizona)
14th minute: Arizona try (20-0 Arizona)

SCORING RECAP (St. Joe's)
3rd minute: Jacob Banarhall try (5-0 Army)
5th minute: St. Joe's try (5-5 tied)
7th minute: St. Joe's try (10-5 St. Joe's)
9th minute: St. Joe's try (15-5 St. Joe's)
11th minute: St. Joe's try (20-5 St. Joe's)
14th minute: St. Joe's try (25-5 St. Joe's)

SCORING RECAP (Navy)
4th minute: Jake Lachina try, Andrew Borer conversion (7-0 Army)
6th minute: Navy try (7-5 Army)
9th minute: Luke Heun try, Andrew Borer conversion (14-5 Army)
11th minute: Torran Raby try, Andrew Borer conversion (21-5 Army)
12th minute: Navy try (21-10 Army)