Men's Rugby Uses 33-0 Run to Defeat Notre Dame (Ohio), 40-6

Sunday, September 12

12 PM

Army West Point

Notre Dame (Ohio)

Photo by: Army Athletics

Men's Rugby Uses 33-0 Run to Defeat Notre Dame (Ohio), 40-6

September 12, 2021 | Men's Rugby

By: Phil Tor

MATCH 2
SCORE	Army 40 , Notre Dame College 28
RECORDS	Army (2-0, 1-0 Rugby East) Notre Dame (0-1, 0-1 Rugby East)
LOCATION	West Point, N.Y.
INVITATIONAL	Warrior Field at Anderson Rugby Complex

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point men's rugby returned to the pitch at Warrior Field on Sunday and cruised to a 40-6 win over the Notre Dame College Falcons. The Black Knights outworked the Falcons from the first whistle, using a 33-0 run to claim their first win in Rugby East play.

How It Happened
The Army men's rugby team did not waste any time in this contest, jumping all over the Falcons from the first whistle. Senior captain Matt Meehan punched in the first try score just three minutes into the contest to give Army the early lead. Sean McNulty followed suit, kicking the conversion to extend Army's early lead.

Notre Dame answered with back-to-back penalty kicks, bringing the score to 7-6 at the 15 minute mark. Those would be the last points for the Falcons in the contest as Army ramped up the defensive pressure to completely shut down the Falcon attack.

Army followed up the second penalty try with an unanswered 33-0 run to close out the contest over the final 65 minutes of action. Every player on the field contributed in one way or another to spark the run and clinch the first Rugby East win of the year for Army.

KoiKoi Nelligan kicked off the run with a try at the 25 minute mark, for his first score of the season. Nelligan's score was followed by another successful conversion by McNulty. Steven Rohde got in on the action with a try score of his own at the 34 minute mark to give the Brothers a 19-6 lead at the half.

The pace of play slowed down coming out of the break, with the score staying at 19-6 until the 65th minute. Isaac Marret tapped down the first of his two tries for Army to give the Cadets a comfortable 24-6 lead. He pushed past the try line again just five minutes later in the 69th minute to extend the advantage for the Cadets.

Donovan Smith jumped on the field and scored his first try of the season to cap off the Army scoring run at the 72 minute mark. Army's win was its second of the season and its sixth straight on the 15s pitch dating back to a season ago.

Coaches Corner
"I felt we had an improved performance overall, and was particularly pleased with our forwards dominance in the set pieces. While we're happy with the step up we made, we're excited to get after the many lessons for growth and improvement we can and will also take from this game." Army Head Coach, Matt Sherman

Cadets Corner
"Overall it was a great team win. We continued our climb and put on an improved performance from last week. Definitely still things we can work on as a team, but we're hungry to get better. Super excited for how the team played and excited to get back to work" - Army senior captain, Matt Meehan

Inside the Box Score

Team captain, Matt Meehan, started the scoring for Army with his first try of the season in the third minute of action
Army has now scored 40 or more points in four straight contests
Sean McNulty has recorded nine successful conversion kicks thus far in 2021, kicking five of six conversions successfully today
Steven Rohde and KoiKoi Nelligan both tapped down a try for their first scores of the young season
Isaac Marret led the Cadets with two try scores and ten total points

BOX SCORE
3:21 - Army Try - Matthew Meehan (5-0)
4:20 - Army Conversion - Sean McNulty (7-0)
9:32 - Notre Dame Penalty Kick (7-3)
14:20 - Notre Dame Penalty Kick (7-6)
25:18 - Army Try - KoiKoi Nelligan (12-6)
26:38 - Army Conversion - Sean McNulty (14-6)
33:58 - Army Try - Steven Rohde (19-6)
65:00 - Army Try - Isaac Marret (24-6)
66:33 - Army Conversion - Sean McNulty (26-6)
69:12 - Army Try - Isaac Marret (31-6)
70:26 - Army Conversion - Sean McNulty (33-6)
72:28 - Army Try - Donovan Smith (38-6)
73:49 - Army Conversion - Sean McNulty (40-6)

Up Next
Army will have two weeks to prepare for its first road match of the season against St. Bonaventure. They will take on the Bonnies on Saturday, September 25 in Olean, N.Y. at 1 PM.

Follow Along
Join Army men's rugby fans on social media and follow the Black Knights throughout their 2021 season on Twitter (@armywp_rugby), Instagram (@armywp_rugby) and Facebook (Army West Point Men's Rugby Page).