Men’s Rugby Wins CRC Bowl Championship

Sunday, June 5

Philadelphia, Pa.

8 AM

Army West Point

Tennessee

Men’s Rugby Wins CRC Bowl Championship

June 05, 2016 | Men's Rugby

CHESTER, Pa. – The Army West Point men's rugby team captured the 2016 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championships Bowl championship with a 10-0 victory over Maryland in the finals from Talen Energy Stadium on Sunday.

The Black Knights were a perfect 3-0 on the day and improved to 4-2 in the tournament. They defeated Tennessee 38-0 in the quarterfinals and a 28-5 win over Clemson in the semis.

"There was definitely some improvement from the guys, and we improved on the most important things," said head coach Matt Sherman. "We were able to win the ball and keep the ball more consistently as the tournament went on. Sevens is a different game. I think we adapted over time to improve and play the game the way it's supposed to be played."

Jake Lachina opened the scoring for Army against Tennessee in the fourth minute with Andrew Borer adding the conversion. Two minutes later, freshman Harrison Farrell scored his first collegiate try to extend the lead to 12-0.

Borer made his way to the try zone in the final seconds of the first half and within the first minute of the second half, converting on the latter. Nathan Williams dotted down for his first try of the tournament in the 10th minute with Jacob Banarhall booting the conversion. The Army vice-captain scored in the final seconds of the match after Williams made a great run through the Volunteers defense and converted for the second time.

In the semifinals, Alec Smith got things started in the sixth minute after taking a pass along the sideline from his own 22 yard line and outlasting the Clemson defense. Borer added the conversion to make the score 7-0. Andrew Irwin dodged a tackle before dotting down Army's second try of the half with Borer once again converting.

On the opening kickoff of the second half, Lachina tipped the ball back to Borer who broke free and scored 15 seconds into the final period with Banarhall adding the conversion. In the 11th minute, Luke Heun scored his first try of the day and second of the tournament with Borer converting his third of the match. The Tigers scored their lone try of the match in the waning seconds.

Freshman Torran Raby powered the offense in the championship match as the San Diego, Calif., native scored both tries in the 10-0 victory over the Terrapins. The shutout was Army's second of the day, with a huge defensive stop coming in the beginning of the second half as Maryland possessed the ball for the first five minutes.

For more information on Army West Point men's rugby, visit GoArmyWestPoint.com and follow @ArmyWP_MRugby on Twitter.

SCORING RECAP (Tennessee)
4th minute: Jake Lachina try, Andrew Borer conversion (7-0 Army)
6th minute: Harrison Farrell try (12-0 Army)
7th minute: Andrew Borer try (17-0 Army)
8th minute: Andrew Borer try, Andrew Borer conversion (24-0 Army)
10th minute: Nathan Williams try, Jacob Banarhall conversion (31-0 Army)
14th minute: Jacob Banarhall try, Jacob Banarhall conversion (38-0 Army)

SCORING RECAP (Clemson)
6th minute: Alec Smith try, Andrew Borer conversion (7-0 Army)
7th minute: Andrew Irwin try, Andrew Borer conversion (14-0 Army)
8th minute: Andrew Borer try, Jacob Banarhall conversion (21-0 Army)
11th minute: Luke Heun try, Andrew Borer conversion (28-0 Army)
14th minute: Clemson try, Clemson conversion (28-7 Army)

SCORING RECAP (Maryland)
1st minute: Torran Raby try (5-0 Army)
5th minute: Torran Raby try (10-0 Army)