Big Day For Military Academies As Navy, Army, And Air Force Win

Big Day For Military Academies As Navy, Army, And Air Force Win

Recap of Army v Iona, Navy v Dartmouth, and Air Force v Wyoming.

Oct 14, 2017 by Alex Goff
Big Day For Military Academies As Navy, Army, And Air Force Win

The military academy men's rugby teams went three for three over the weekend, with Navy and Army pulling out close rivalry wins, and Air Force flying past Wyoming.


Army And Iona Chippy

Army and Iona have developed a nifty little rivalry — one that leaves little love lost between the two. As usual, the Gaels pulled out the welcome mat in New Rochelle, with national anthem singers, cheerleaders, and other trappings.

Iona didn't pull out the welcome mat on the field, however, as the game was a slobberknocker from the get-go. The Gaels got a penalty from Santi Mascolo and an interception try from Lavar James for a 10-0 lead. But Army rallied, equalized before halftime, and then scored the only try of the second half to win it 17-13.


"The performance was a bit mixed," said Army head coach Matt Sherman, who added that most of his team's problems came from pressure put on by Iona. "They pounce on everything, so when we made a mistake it was difficult. We needed to play simple and direct, and while we let that pressure get to us a couple of times, we did get some good go-forward."

Sherman said he was most happy with his team's defense, which held Iona to just the one try and ended the game defending its goal line down a play due to a yellow card.

"Chippy game, tough environment, and we came back to win, so I am proud of them," said Sherman.

Flyhalf Jon Kim was under a ton of pressure, and while he didn't shine as a playmaker, he handled the physical demands of the game and made a key tackle late. Hooker Ryan Moshak came down ill on Friday but sucked it up and played a full 80 and was superb.


Navy Takes On Dartmouth

Former Dartmouth head coach Gavin Hickie returned to his old haunts with his new team, Navy, and saw his Midshipmen come out with a 19-6 victory. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win.

"It was okay," said Hickie, lofting faint praise on his team. "On a personal level there’s emotions involved. The challenge was worrying about us getting better from week to week, and we met some benchmarks. But in terms of our free-flowing attacking game plan, it was not on display today."

Both coaches — Hickie and Dartmouth's James Willocks — said they knew the game would be a slog. Navy dominated the scrums and that proved to be the deciding factor. Dartmouth's lineouts functioned well, but if you can't win your scrums, you have to hold onto the ball, and too many knock-ons hurt the Big Green pack.

Navy stole several put-ins, and scored on one such steal when No. 8 Connor McNerney rumbled 25 meters to score. As usual, McNerney was a force. He was assisted by flanker Andrew Malick, who put in a full day's work.

"It was a messy old game," lamented Dartmouth coach James Willocks. "We struggled to get any attacking continuity going. Navy is big, physical, and plays defense for 80 minutes."


Zoomies Zoom By Cowboys

No such close games for Air Force, as the Zoomies thumped Wyoming 69-18. No. 8 Jason Kyles and lock Austin Lyons headlined a strong forward effort, and while they set the platform, the two also made meters on attack.

Air Force is now 3-0 in the Rocky Mountain, having beaten Utah State and New Mexico. But Colorado State and Colorado await in the next two weeks.