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Army Slams Air Force

irish rugby tours

Army Slams Air Force

Lachina had three tries for Army. Photo courtesy West Point Athletics.

West Point torched Air Force for three tries in the first 20 minutes 

Junior wing Jake Lachina scored three tries on the day, including the second, ten minutes in, and the team's second, at 23 minutes. Flyhalf Jon Kim was on fire, scoring two tries and adding seven conversions and a penalty for 27 points. Kim opened the scoring with a penalty goal, and then four minutes later scored a try and converted it for a 10-0 lead. Lachina and Kim and then Lachina again made it 29-0 just past the first quarter.

Lachina completed his hat trick 32 minutes in and then a try from Jeff Malm-Annan made it 43-0. Stunned by the Army onslaught, Air Force rebounded with a try right at halftime. Andy Sullivan scored for Army just four minutes into the second half, and then Raaqim Rispress added one four minutes after that. Now it was 55-7. Rispress went over once more to make it 62-7, and Air Force scored two late.

It was a pretty dominant performance for Army.

"I think we just fired with real precision the first half," said Head Coach Matt Sherman. "We've played well in patches but we played well in all areas. Our #1 goal was to improve in every game. Even in the Penn State loss I felt we improved."

Sherman said he was very impressed with center and captain Luke Heun, who, said the coach, "is an absolute warrior. He always leads the team in tackles and makes good decisions with the ball."

Air Force has to rebound to face New Mexico in two weeks - a game likely to clinch 1st in the West D1A. Army is done for the fall. Next up for them is a March meeting with Dartmouth, and then a tour of Southern California with games scheduled against San Diego State and UCLA.

With two of the three games done in the Commander-in-Chief Trophy, Army now leads the three-team military academy contest. Army will play Navy in the spring. The winner of that game will take home the trophy. Last year, the three teams went 1-1, with Navy taking the trophy on points difference.

Commander in Chief Trophy Standings W L T Pf Pa Pd
Army 1 0 0 62 19 43
Navy 0 1 0 31 32 -1
Air Force 1 1 0 41 93 -52