Navy Men's Rugby Wins Star at Home

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In an early season battle of the undefeated with a star on the line, the Navy men's rugby team rolled it's way over Army, 32-5, in front of a jammed pack Prusmack Rugby Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Star Match is part of the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.

The 27-point victory was the largest margin of victory in the series history. The Midshipmen are now 5-0 all-time against the Black Knights and the 32 total points marked the second most in a match.

"Army-Navy is the greatest rivalry in our country regardless of what sport we play. It's a massive victory, huge. Our Midshipmen deserved massive credit, no matter if you were playing jv yesterday or out on the pitch today, everyone deserves the credit for doing their job," stated director of rugby Gavin Hickie. "It was amazing seeing everyone come out and support these men and to be able to celebrate with everyone here is massive and so rewarding."

Both teams were flipping the field position early in the match. Senior captain William Webb drove Navy into the Black Knight's 22-meter zone but a turnover would halt the first promising drive of the match. In the first scrum of the match, Army would win the battle but a non-release penalty allowed the Mids to capitalize electing for a penalty kick in the 5th-minute. Mr. Reliable Roanin Krieger drained his 10th penalty kick of the season for a 3-0 lead.

Krieger entered the match with 398 career points and as the program's all-time leading scorer making him the first Midshipmen to reach the 400-point milestone.

"This was a match we circled on our calendar for a while now. Army was fighting all the way to the end, that tested ourselves and our endurance and see how far we can push ourselves as a team," said Krieger. "It's an honor to have coach Hickie trust me to make any kick. I'm only in that position if the other 14 guys are in position working their tails off, it's my job to put the ball through the post but everything leading up to that is credit to the 14 other guys on the field."

Navy would go on a run of scoring two tries before the half. The Mids first try was set up by a kick from Krieger, an Army defender couldn't corral the kick falling out of bounds inside its own five-meter zone setting Navy up for a throw-in. Showing its team power, the Mids would maul their way into the try zone with senior Ryan Hotaling leading the pack to spike the ball down for the first try of the match in the 12-minute mark.

Following a turnover inside the Black Knights 22-meter area, a clear click attempt was caught by Avion Ganse who maneuvered his way around the defense and sprinted down the sideline tackled inside the five-meter zone. A quick pass to Aidan Gerber caught the Army defenders on its heels to quickly spike the ball for his second try of the season 25:09 into the match.

For the remaining of the first half, both teams were trading kicks back and forth to push the field position. The Black Knights threatened deep near Navy's five-meter zone minutes before halftime, the Mids defense was stout led by JD Bengston who punched the ball out to end the half and prevented no points on the scoreboard to hold their 15-0 lead.

It didn't take long for Navy to punch the ball into the try zone, striking quick five minutes into the second half. Senior Tanner Russell broke out of the maul pile and dragged three Army defenders into the try zone.

Andrew Baublitz has been one of the most explosive runners at the wing position, the Glen Burnie, Md., native flashed his speed once again in the Star Match for Navy's final try of the match. Followed by a miss drop kick by Krieger, Army attempted a clear kick attempt out of its try zone that was received by Ganse who tracked Baublitz and galloped through the defense for the teams fourth try of the match.

The final points of the match for the Midshipmen came off the boot of Krieger for the second penalty kick in the 70:07 mark. Krieger led Navy in scoring for the third match in a row with 12 total points off a pair of penalty and conversion kicks.

Army prevented the shutout scoring its first points of the day from Nathan Gould who split down the seam and shed off two Mids for the five points. Navy's defense held the Black Knights to its lowest scoring match in series history.