The Article
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Navy men’s rugby continued its unbeaten start to the season Saturday, routing Mary Washington 55-6 in its Rugby East conference opener and first road test of the year. The win pushes Navy to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
Three Midshipmen shared top scoring honors with a pair of tries apiece: Jack Skidmore, Trevor Gayron, and Reid Gerber each finished with 10 points. Sam Pirkl added nine points on a try and two conversions, while Jake Cornelius handled early kicking duties, converting three attempts for six points.
“We are off to a good start in our conference,” Navy director of rugby Gavin Hickie said. “To win like that on the road is always a challenge, but we adapted and executed well today.”
Navy opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Skidmore collected a pass out of a scrum and beat a defender down the sideline for a try. The Midshipmen extended the lead in the 20th minute when Andrew Baublitz broke through the middle and offloaded to Sean Donohue for a 10-0 advantage. Mary Washington answered with a penalty kick in the 35th minute — the first points Navy has allowed all season — before a Navy maul set up a Gayron try just before halftime, sending the teams into the break at 17-3.
The second half opened much like the first ended: a cross-field kick found Skidmore in the 43rd minute for his second try of the day. After another Mary Washington penalty kick, Navy answered with tries from Baublitz in the 48th minute and Gayron again a minute later off a five-meter scrum, both converted by Cornelius, pushing the score to 36-6. Gerber took over from there, scoring his first career try in the 63rd minute and adding a second in the 73rd, with Pirkl converting both. Pirkl capped the scoring himself, running in an untouched try off a lineout in the match’s final minute to set the final margin at 55-6.
Navy returns home next Saturday to host Army in the annual Army-Navy Star Game, with kickoff set for 11 a.m. at the Prusmack Rugby Center in Annapolis. “Overall, it was a good win, but now our focus turns to the Star Game against Army next week,” Hickie said.
Box Score
- 10:43 — Try, Navy (Skidmore) — 5-0
- 19:57 — Try, Navy (Donohue) — 10-0
- 35:00 — Penalty kick, Mary Washington — 10-3
- 40:00 — Try, Navy (Gayron); Conversion, Cornelius — 17-3
- 42:23 — Try, Navy (Skidmore) — 22-3
- 44:35 — Penalty kick, Mary Washington — 22-6
- 48:00 — Try, Navy (Baublitz); Conversion, Cornelius — 29-6
- 49:28 — Try, Navy (Gayron); Conversion, Cornelius — 36-6
- 62:21 — Try, Navy (Gerber); Conversion, Pirkl — 43-6
- 72:53 — Try, Navy (Gerber); Conversion, Pirkl — 50-6
- 79:22 — Try, Navy (Pirkl) — 55-6
