The West Point men’s rugby team picked themselves up from an 0-2 start at the CRC to finish with four wins in a row and win the Bowl at the CRC 7s invitational this past weekend in Chester. Pa.

The Black Knights lost to Arizona and St. Joe's in pool play before finishing pool play with a 21-01 win over Navy.

That did little but give Army service academy bragging rights, but also got them into the Bowl quarterfinals. From there, on Sunday, Army cruched Tennessee 38-0, Clemson 28-7, and Maryland 10-0 in the Bowl Final.

Colleen McCloskey photo.

“There was definitely some improvement from the guys, and we improved on the most important things,” said head coach Matt Sherman. “We were able to win the ball and keep the ball more consistently as the tournament went on. Sevens is a different game. I think we adapted over time to improve and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.” 

Jake Lachina opened the scoring for Army against Tennessee in the fourth minute with Andrew Borer adding the conversion. Two minutes later, freshman Harrison Farrell scored his first collegiate try to extend the lead to 12-0. 

Borer made his way to the try zone in the final seconds of the first half and within the first minute of the second half, converting on the latter. Nathan Williams dotted down for his first try of the tournament in the 10th minute with Jacob Banarhall booting the conversion. The Army vice-captain scored in the final seconds of the match after Williams made a great run through the Volunteers defense and converted for the second time. 

In the semifinals, Alec Smith got things started in the sixth minute after taking a pass along the sideline from his own 22 yard line and outlasting the Clemson defense. Borer added the conversion to make the score 7-0. Andrew Irwin dodged a tackle before dotting down Army’s second try of the half with Borer once again converting. 

Colleen McCloskey photo.

On the opening kickoff of the second half, Lachina tipped the ball back to Borer who broke free and scored 15 seconds into the final period with Banarhall adding the conversion. In the 11th minute, Luke Heun scored his first try of the day and second of the tournament with Borer converting his third of the match. The Tigers scored their lone try of the match in the waning seconds.

Freshman Torran Raby powered the offense in the championship match as the San Diego, Calif., native scored both tries in the 10-0 victory over the Terrapins. The shutout was Army’s second of the day, with a huge defensive stop coming in the beginning of the second half as Maryland possessed the ball for the first five minutes.  

Bowl Knockout Rounds Box Scores:

Army 38 Tennessee 0

Tries: Lachina, Farrell, Borer 2, Williams, Banarhall

Convs: Borer, Banarhall 2

Army 28 Clemson 7

Tries: Smith, Irwin, Borer, Heun

Convs: Borer 3, Banarhall 

Army 10 Maryland 0

Tries: Raby 2