Men's Rugby Blanks St. Bonaventure, 29-0

Saturday, September 25

Olean, NY

1 PM

Army West Point

St. Bonaventure

Men's Rugby Blanks St. Bonaventure, 29-0

September 25, 2021 | Men's Rugby

By: Phil Tor

OLEAN, N.Y. - Isaac Marret, Koikoui Nelligan and Gerard McCarron all recorded try scores to lead the Army West Point men's rugby team to a 29-0 win over the St. Bonaventure Bonnies in Rugby East play. The Black Knights (3-0, 2-0 Rugby East) kept their perfect record intact with the result while posting their first shutout effort of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Fresh off a bye week Army used their fresh legs to run on the Bonnies early, scoring a try just four minutes into the contest. Isaac Marret picked up where he left off two weeks ago, crossing the try line to put the first Army points on the board. Sean McNulty booted home the conversion to put the Brothers up 7-0 early in the contest.

McNulty controlled the kicking duties once again for Army, adding three points to the Army lead after a successful penalty kick in the ninth minute of action. McNulty finished the contest with seven total points.

The Black Knights and Bonnies would battle for the next 20 minutes as Army made a couple of key defensive plays to eventually set up Koikoi Nelligan for a try score in the 29th minute. Nelligan's second try in two games put Army up 15-0 going into the break.

The Bonnies came out fighting in the second half, but Army was able to match their intensity on the defensive end, keeping St. Bonaventure off the scoreboard.

Gerard McCaron came on the pitch in the second half to add Army's third try of the day in the 69th minute.

Scharl Du Toit rounded out the scoring for the Brothers, scoring his first try of the season and following it up with a successful conversion to boost the Army lead to 29-0. That was all Army would need to secure the victory, as it would go on to shut out St. Bonaventure and secure another win in Rugby East play.

QUOTABLE
"It was a great overall team win. Coming into this game we talked about coming off the bye week with goals to continue our climb. This win was a foot in the right direction but there is still work to be done. As a team we are ready to get back after it this coming week." - Tiaan Mosconi

"We knew coming into this match it would be our greatest challenge to date. Coming off a bye week and traveling to St. Bonnies on their family weekend, we were faced with many distractions. However, ther Brothers stuck together and fought the entire game. Even in times of pressure during the game we kept our composure and discipline which resulted in a shutout performance. I'm very proud of this entire week and how we performed today. We are looking forward to our next challenge and to continue our climb as a team." - Jonny Haley

"I was particularly pleased with our defensive effort. To shut out a potent St. Bonaventure back line took a high level of effort and execution. But I'm even more excited about the better rugby we have in us but haven't reached yet. We were one pass away on multiple occasions and weren't able to execute and I look forward to making those improvements going forward." - Army Head Rugby Coach, Matt Sherman

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Sean McNulty led the team in points for the third straight contest and now has 28 total points
Scharl Du Toit's seven points increased his season total to nine.
Koikoi Nelligan has now scored tries in the past two games .
Army has won its past seven matches on the 15s pitch
The Black Knights posted their first shutout effort of the 2021 season and their first since a 67-0 defeat of Norwich in 2020-21.

SCORING RUNDOWN
4:38 - Isaac Marret - Try (5-0 Army)
5:19 - Sean McNulty - Conversion (7-0 Army)
9:18 - Sean McNulty - Penalty Kick (10-0 Army)
29:30 - Koikoi Nelligan - Try (15-0 Army)
62:07 - Gerard McCarion - Try (20-0 Army)
63:07 - Sean McNulty - Conversion (22-0)
75:25 - Scharl du Toit - Try (27-0 Army)
76:45 - Scharl du Toit - Conversion (29-0 Army)

Up Next
Army will have the week to prepare for a tilt with Penn State next Saturday. That match will be played at Anderson Rugby Complex and is set to begin at noon.

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).