The Naval Academy handed UMW their first 15’s loss since October 2016 today with a late surge between the 70th minute and the end of the game. The match officials and both coaches, UMW’s Min Chae and Navy’s Gavin Hickie all commented on what a well-played match it was. 

The game was scoreless for the first 23:00 and not for poor handling or errors, the defense from both sides was fast and physical. UMW starved Navy for possession for the first 10 minutes and Navy started in the 14th minute to find their pattern. In the 23rd minute Navy’s flyhalf Scott Diaz scored a well earned try about 10 meters from the sideline and the conversion was missed. 

During this time UMW has 3 excellent chances to score with lineouts and significant possession inside Navy’s 10 meter line but could not touch down. Navy’s wing Denver Fuller made a key play on UMW’s #8 Matthew Gordon barely pushing his foot into touch as Gordon hit the corner after UMW running many phases. It was Fuller who touched down in the right corner for Navy at the 36:00 mark to put Navy up 10-0 at the half.

UMW started the 2nd half strong and capped a series where they ran 14 phases until UMW’s big prop Ryan Iskowitz found a gap through Navy’s line immediately left of the posts. Throughout this series UMW’s hooker Jack Levine and No. 8 Matthew Gordon were constantly pushing past the gain line yet Navy kept their cool. 

The score remained locked another 27 minutes at 10-7 to Navy. UMW has some nice chances with a forward pass from UMW’s Man of the Match scrumhalf Harry Masters to Levine called back and Navy’s stout tackling causing some errors. Master’s and UMW’s fullback Bradlee Nicholls did well to cover some breaks by Navy and UMW was starting to show some fatigue by the 70th minute. 

At the 70th minute Navy finally opened it up with a nice try by lock Luke Agness in the right corner, and wing Jared Stephenson again unconverted in the right corner. Navy’s man of the match Conor McNerney closed out the scoring for Navy in the 79th minute with a nice try. Final Navy 25 UMW 7

UMW will be hosting Navy in the fall in Fredericksburg as both schools are eager to keep this renewed rivalry going strong. Said UMW’s director of rugby, Tim Brown, “this is the type of game our guys want and I like that I see our guys being really tough on themselves after the loss... they know what we need to do to play at this level. Navy and Coach Hickie were gracious hosts and set the bar higher for us”.