The Navy women’s rugby team played its first 15s match of the spring season against Penn State in State College, Pa., and finished in a 29-29 tie on Sunday. Despite trailing 17-5 at halftime, Navy made a strong comeback, outscoring the Nittany Lions 24-12 in the second half to force a tie. This was a friendly match and there was no extra time played.
Head coach Murph McCarthy praised both teams for their performance, saying, “Great match played by both sides today. It was great to go at it with another good team. I thought considering we haven’t played since December, we looked pretty sharp.”
Team captain Eliza Herring scored the first points of the match with a try in the 12th minute, but Penn State dominated the first half, scoring two tries and a penalty kick. In the second half, Navy quickly caught up, with Abby Hershner and Chrissi Foster scoring tries to tie the match at 17-17. However, Penn State answered with back-to-back tries and took a 29-17 lead. Navy’s Marissa Meyer, Miracle Haynes, and a penalty kick brought the score to 29-29.
Navy’s top scorer from the fall, Marissa Meyer, scored her 13th try of the season and leads Navy with 65 points scored in 15s competition. Herring, Haynes, and Hershner also contributed tries to the match. Nicole Deprey made her 12th conversion kick of her senior campaign to bring her point total to 42 points.
In Frostburg, Md., Navy won five of its seven 7s matches, with the #1 squad going 2-2 and the #2 squad going 3-0. Jess Mckenzie led the scoring with eight tries, followed by Mary Agube who scored five and Elizabeth Dunne and Ashley Spencer with three each.
Navy will take on Army in its next match on March 25 at Segra Field in Leesburg, Va.