Navy Rolls Past Penn State For ECS Shield
Navy Rolls Past Penn State For ECS Shield
Navy defeated Penn State 47-10 Saturday to move to 14-0 in a game played at Segra Field in Leesburg, Va.
The Midshipmen fell behind 3-0 after an early penalty kick from Penn State's Dalton Musselman. But that was the extent of PSU's scoring until late in the game as Navy reeled off 47- srtaight points.
“We’re happy to get another win against a tough Penn State team that beat us in Leesburg last year. We’re continuing on our journey with a 14-0 record which is good, but not happy with allowing the try in the final moments,” said Navy Director of Rugby Gavin Hickie. "I think we turned the ball over too many times in key areas that we have to address going into Army next week.”
A penalty against Penn State gave Navy a lineout near Penn State’s 22 and the ensuing maul got navy near the tryline before Roanin Krieger dove over. He was, however, penalized; no score for Navy.
Krieger would ckome back to set up the try that actually counted. Fielding a kick in his own half, Krieger booted the ball down the field and earned a 50-22 for his efforts. From the lineout Navy got another penalty and eventually ran a play of a scrum for Lewis Gray to split two defenders and get the try.
Penn State had a chance to get deep into Navy’s defensive zone with a kick from midfield, but the ball rolled dead giving Navy a scrum back near midfield. From there Ben Haugh picked up and ran the ball inside Penn State's 22 before a well-timed pass from Landon Opp set up Gray's second. Krieger converted and it was 14-3.
The Midshipmen got another try with another maul, which this time set up Dean Neeley to dive over.
Penn State began pushing into Navy territory using its kicking game. But Gray was able to counter, break through the chase and go down the sideline before feeding Ratu Osea Melibua to finish off the movement. Krieger was good on the conversion again for a 28-3 lead.
In the second half, Krieger burst through in the second minute. A knock--on by Penn State set up a scrum from which Opp charged over. That made it 40-3.
Finally a dropped pass by the Nittany Lions was picked up by AJ Young, who sprinted down the field and scored in the 74th minute. Opp took over kicking duties and made the conversion kick to give the Mids a 47-3 advantage.
Penn State scored its lone try of the match in the 78th minute and made the conversion kick to make the score 47-10.
“Overall pretty happy with today, but we have a huge focus on ourselves as we go into our match against Army,” said Hickie. “We have to go up to West Point to try and get a win in just a six-day turnaround and we have to get locked in.”
