ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Army West Point women's rugby capped off the regular season by securing the star with a 36-5 victory over Navy in the fourth iteration of the Star Match, as part of the Star Series Presented by USAA.
The Black Knights' defense neutralized Navy's offensive efforts, holding the host to just five points across 80 minutes of action, marking the second consecutive match of holding opponents to five points scored. With the win, Army advances its all-time star series record to 4-0 over the Midshipmen.
Grace Macune got the Black Knights on the board early, reaching the try zone in the fifth minute off a feed from Emily Steen.
Just under four minutes later, Navy answered with a try of their own. A series of lateral passes allowed the Midshipmen to find an opening near the touchline and find the try zone, evening the score at 5-5.
The Black Knights continued to apply pressure to regain possession of the ball in Navy's territory. Following an Army kick and throw-in, the Black Knights drove to just outside the Mids' try zone where Zainab Ogunlola quickly snatched the ball and drove past Navy defenders to dive into the try zone and extend Army's advantage to 10-5. Steen capped off the scoring opportunity with a perfectly placed conversion, giving the Black Knights a seven-point lead .
Following the try scored by Ogunlola, Navy drove down the field into Army territory, attempting to even the score for the next six minutes of play, but the Black Knights' defense kept the Mids' attack at bay. After a Navy turnover, Army capitalized on another scoring opportunity with Yesenia Morales scoring a try in the 19th minute. Another successful conversion from Steen gave Army a two-score lead with around 20 minutes left to play in the first half.
The service academy rivals continued to battle for another scoring chance as the clock expired in the first half. In the final minutes of the half, Army's defense stepped up to turn away a promising scoring chance by the Midshipmen and take a 19-5 lead into the break.
Just over six and a half minutes into the second half, Army found the try zone once more. A string of passes got to Chloe De Leon on the perimeter who grounded the ball in the try zone for the Black Knights' fourth try of the day, pushing the Army lead to 24-5.
For the next 14 minutes of action, the two sides traded possessions in Navy territory, with Army inching towards the Mids' try zone with every possession. The Black Knights broke through in the 61st minute on a try scored by Emily Steen near the touchline. Steen was successful on the difficult conversion attempt, kicking the ball across her body right through the middle of the goalposts from the far side of the field for her third conversion of the game.
Gabby Woenker created a scoring chance in the final 10 minutes of play, powering past the Navy defense and into the try zone at 73:45 to give Army a 36-5 advantage.
Despite additional pressure from Navy, Black Knights' defense continued to shine, keeping the Midshipmen off the board in the final minutes to close out the contest and award Army its fourth women's rugby star.