Men's Rugby Falls to Cal & Central Washington on West Coast to Begin Spring Season

Saturday, March 4

Berkeley, CA

4:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM PT

Army West Point

University of California

Men's Rugby Falls to Cal & Central Washington on West Coast to Begin Spring Season

March 18, 2023 | Men's Rugby

ELLENSBURG, WA - Army West Point men's rugby (0-2) fell in its spring season opener by a score of 31-14 to the University of California Bears (10-0) before suffering a 36-14 defeat at the hands of Central Washington (7-0).

GAME ONE: Army 14, Cal 31
The Black Knights struck first just five minutes into the contest, with Matt de Frates offloading to Jonny Haley who dove into the try zone after a burst to beat the defense. Haley then made good on the conversion to make it a 7-0 Army lead.

The Bears were able to break through at the 18-minute mark with a try and conversion which saw the score tied at seven through the opening half hour. Cal took its first lead at the 32-minute mark with a try, before adding another try and conversion just before the half to lead 19-7 at the break.

The Black Knights responded out of halftime, flirting with a try for minutes before Dom Tianga took a loose ball into the try zone to make it a one-score game. Haley put the conversion through to make it a 19-14 contest.

Cal was able to get its breathing room back at the hour, putting up another try and conversion for a 26-14 advantage. The Bears added one more try in the final ten minutes, bringing the final score to 31-14.

Scoring Summary
First Half
5:05 - Army - Try (Haley), Army 5-0
5:45 - Army - Conversion (Haley), Army 7-0
18:12 - Cal - Try + Conversion, Tied 7-7
32:47 - Cal - Try, Cal 12-7
38:40 - Cal - Try + Conversion, Cal 19-7
Second Half
49:20 - Army - Try (Tianga), Cal 19-12
49:51 - Army - Conversion (Haley), Cal 19-14
60:00 - Cal - Try + Conversion, Cal 26-14
70:00 - Cal - Try, Cal 31-14

GAME TWO: Army 14, CWU 36
The Wildcats were able to break through with a try just over a minute into the contest to put Army in a quick 7-0 hole to start. Army had an answer eight minutes later, with Michael Amberg pushing through into the try zone after the Black Knights held possession deep into Wildcats' territory. A conversion from Haley made the score back even at seven.

The next ten minutes saw two more tries for the home side, as Army struggled offensively to breakthrough the CWU defense. With a 17-7 lead for over a 20-minute stretch, the Wildcats added another try and conversion just before halftime to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.

Army responded out of the break once again, with Amberg doing the honors with his second try of the game. He would hurdle over the last defender to beat to secure the try, as Haley once again made good on the conversion to pull Army behind 24-14.

Defending with a multi-possession lead, CWU recorded its fifth try of the contest at the 59-minute mark to go ahead by 15. Adding one more try and conversion, the Wildcats nursed their late lead en route to a 36-14 victory over Army.

Scoring Summary
First Half
1:15 - CWU - Try + Conversion, CWU 7-0
9:01 - Army - Try (Amberg), CWU 7-5
9:33 - Army - Conversion (Haley), Tied 7-7
15:16 - CWU - Try, CWU 12-7
19:46 - CWU - Try, CWU 17-7
39:98 - CWU - Try + Conversion, CWU 24-7
Second Half
44:03 - Army - Try (Amberg), CWU 24-12
44:37 - Army - Conversion (Haley), CWU 24-14
59:52 - CWU - Try, CWU 29-14
66:29 - CWU, Try + Conversion, CWU 36-14

Army returns to the field on Friday, March 24 with a home matchup against Navy at 7:00 p.m.