Women’s Rugby Second Half Surge Cut Short, Black Knights Drop Game at Brown

Saturday, October 26

Providence, RI

12:00 PM

Army West Point

Brown

Women’s Rugby Second Half Surge Cut Short, Black Knights Drop Game at Brown

October 27, 2024 | Women's Rugby

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Army Women's Rugby headed out to Rhode Island on Saturday for a midday matchup with NIRA opponent Brown. Despite the Black Knights getting on the board first and a late push from Army in the second half, the Bears' experience helped them claim the 40-33 win.

The two squads got off to a quick start in their sunny Saturday afternoon matchup. Army made its way within striking distance and capitalized on a penalty from Brown to get on the board first as primary kicker Alissa Eisenhart sent the penalty kick up and just over the crossbar for a 3-0 Army lead four minutes into the action.

Brown would not be triumphed over silently on their home field on their Senior Day, however, and the host team broke through Army's defense only three minutes later for the first try of the afternoon, completing the conversion to take a 7-3 lead.

The Black Knights' notable resilience made its first appearance in the match as the squad drove back down the field and Gabby Woenker made an aggressive push through Brown's line on the right side of the field to notch Army's first try of the match and push the Black Knights to a one-point edge in the contest.

With 25 minutes gone in the action, Eisenhart sent her second penalty kick of the match sailing straight through the center of the posts to extend Army's lead to an 11-7 gap, but the Bears responded with a try and completed conversion five minutes later to take a 14-7 lead with ten minutes to go in the first half.

Eisenhart resumed her role as the Black Knights' kicker just four minutes later, tying things up at 14s with her third successful penalty kick of the half before Brown's experienced offense broke through Army's defensive line and notched a try and conversion to move the Bears into a 21-14 lead heading into the break.

The home team seemed energized out of the break, notching three tries and completing two conversions in the first 20 minutes of the second half to take a daunting 40-14 lead.

Cecilia Ollis kept the Black Knights in the contest, however, battling her way across the try line to spark and Army surge with 17 minutes left in the action.

Cassidy Ball picked up the next thread of momentum for Army just four minutes later, bobbing and weaving her way through the Brown defense to find her way to the center of the try zone and setting up Emily Steen for the conversion to bring the match to a 40-26 mark.

Brown looked to find a way to hold Army off but the Black Knights would make it into the try zone once more with their full-team effort as Ollis made a toss to Emma Gamboa who offloaded a pass to Stevie-Rae Ricklick on a run through the posts from within Army's own territory, setting up Steen's second completed conversion and cutting the Bears' lead to just seven points with seven minutes remaining.

That Black Knights battled viciously as the clock ticked down, standing strong at their own try line to hold off the Bears' late attempt to extend and earning their own chance at a final run to equalize as the game passed the 80-minute mark.

Army worked the breadth of the field to find a way through Brown's line and into the try zone, but a bobble on the run from Army's offense turned over the ball to the Bears who promptly kicked it out of the field of play and ended the match with Brown's 40-33 lead holding through the final whistle.

Up Next
The Black Knights will next travel to Annapolis, Md. to take on Navy in the second iteration of the Star Game as part of the Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA. The two will clash at the Prusmack Rugby Center on Nov. 2^nd at 2pm ET.