The 25th Anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks marked an extra bit of meaning Friday evening ain Annapolis, Md., as the USA Naval Academy hosted the US Air Force Academy for the Shea Memorial Cup.
The challenge trophy between the two teams is named after Lt. Col., Kevin Shea, who attended the Air Force Academy but cross-commissioned into the US Marine Corps, and later taught at Navy. A punishing rugby player, Shea heled lead the Air Force to the 1989 USA Rugby National DI championship.
Shea served with distinction in Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s, returned to serve as an instructor at the Naval Academy, and then was decorated for valor during the Global War on Terror in Iraq. On his 38th birthday, September 14, 2004, Lt. Col. Kevin Shea was killed in action in Iraq.
All of this was context to the game and what it means. The game itself was not really in doubt. Air Force, a club team playing its first match of the season with exactly one player who had played rugby in high school, was up against the 2025-26 D1A runners-up Navy, with a heavy senior contingent. Navy already had two games under their belts, and sported many experienced players.
Interestingly, the two captains had been rivals going back some years. Navy team captain Ed Soeder played for St. Ignatius HS in Cleveland, and Air Force captain (lilke Soeder, suiting up at lock), Will Grzelak, had played for St. Edward HS, also in Cleveland. Those two temas are bitter rivals.
Air Force showed what they wanted to accomplish early—play fast, utilize speed, and if there is no go-forward, kick for territory.
The kicks will come in time, but in this match they didn't garner enough distance to worry Navy all that much.
The first Air Force kick took a bit of a Navy bounce, and the Midshipment went wide before fullback Drew Baublitz sol a dummy and raced through for 70 meters. The Mids followed tha up with a well-executed lineout-and-maul to score their second.
A turnover led to Navy spinning the ball wide quickly and Sean Donohue going over.
Dalton Sand capped off a maul for another, and then hooker Ian Bullock cut back against the grain and raced through for a very long gallop and a try that most hookers could not accomplish.
Repeat penalties saw Air Force take a yellow card, and Navy crashed it over. Kade Williams converted five of the second first-half tries, and Navy had a commanding 45-0 lead.
