West Point held off Penn State 19-15 Saturday at the Anderson Rugby Complex to start their Rugby East conference season 1-0.

In a game that saw both teams lead at various points in the match, Army did enough.

Penn State led early, with former HS All American Malcolm May crashing over for a 5-0 lead after five minutes. Army had to work hard but finally took the lead when center Andrew Fargo raced in. Logan Pearce’s conversion put the Black Knights ahead 7-5.

Penn State re-took the lead with a penalty kick from freshman Jimmy Ronan, and then had to hold off a furious challenge from Army to end the first half. The Black Knights were on the goal line, but could not breach the Penn State defense to score.

But they did in the second half, attacking nicely off a scrum and putting Freshman David Huff over the line just six minutes into the second period. Pearce slotted the extras and Army now held a 14-8 lead.

Army pushed their advantage and after some pressure Luke Heun scored, unconverted, to give Army a 19-8 lead.

But Penn State would finish strong, and with ten minutes to go they made it a one-score game, as Gabriel Tupper set up Robert Irimescu for a try that, with Ronan’s conversion, made it 19-15.

The Nittany Lions needed one more, but couldn’t get it as the Black Knights defense held strong.

Both teams had talked about how young they were, and they weren’t kidding, as all five tries were scored by freshmen or sophomores, as were Penn State’s points from kicking.

The only junior or senior to score was senior Army flyhalf Logan Pearce, who kicked two conversions.

"What a great win,” Army Head Coach Mike Mahan told GoArmySports. “Our two veteran forwards [Collum] Magee and [Ben] Foley were just huge and they let all the younger guys get in and make plays,.”

Penn State drops to 0-1 in the Rugby East.

Army 19
Tries: Fargo, Huff, Heun
Convs: Pearce 2

Penn State 15
Tries: May, Irimescu
Convs: Ronan 2