Black Knights Open Varsity Cup with Notre Dame

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point men's rugby team will open the 2017 Penn Mutual Varsity Cup against Notre Dame Saturday at the Anderson Rugby Complex. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.

Prior to the match, the Black Knights will honor their 11 seniors: Sean Berry, Andrew Fargo, Jamison Geracci, Luke Heun, Ben Lemon, Jeff Malm-Annan, Ryan Manion, Connor Parker, Dominic Plantamura, Andy Sullivan and Adam Szott.

HOW TO FOLLOW
VIDEO • Knight Vision
TWITTER • ArmyWP_MRugby

ARMY (11-2, 7-1 Rugby East)
• Army opened its spring season by taking two of the first three matches.
• The Black Knights defeated UCLA on the road, 45-19, before dropping a hard-fought 22-15 decision at No. 10 San Diego State.
• Last time out, Army was victorious over service-academy rival Navy 24-18 on the 10th anniversary of the Anderson Rugby Complex.
• Army is looking to improve upon last season's performance in the Varsity Cup after exiting in the quarterfinals with a 41-29 setback against the eventual champion, California.
• In the opening round of the 2016 Varsity Cup, the Black Knights defeated Oklahoma 55-10 behind a varsity record 30-point performance from Andrew Borer.
• Rookie Jon Kim has powered Army's offense this season with 161 points on four tries, 42 conversions and 19 penalty kicks.
• Fullback Jake Lachina has documented a team-best 15 tries in 12 matches this year.

NOTRE DAME (8-8)
• Notre Dame enters the match having won two out of its last three matches.
• The wins came against Bethel College, 62-7, and Lake Forest College, 22-17, before dropping a 40-19 decision to Indiana.
• The Fighting Irish are seeking their first Varsity Cup win in five tries after exiting the tournament in the first round in every year since 2013.
• Notre Dame's strength lies in its forwards play and will need to be successful on scrums and line outs in order to have success.
• Some of the key players to watch for the Fighting Irish are captain and hooker Luc Joseph, lock Joe Cook, prop Aristotle Zervoudakis, flanker Matt Strosser and scrum half Jake Randle.

COMMON OPPONENTS IN 2017
Army vs. Navy: W, 24-18; March 25
Notre Dame vs. Navy: L, 34-15; Oct. 8

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

Black Knights Open Varsity Cup with Notre Dame

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Players Mentioned

Sean Berry

Andrew Borer

Andrew Fargo

Jamison Geracci

Luke Heun

Jon Kim

Jake Lachina

Ben Lemon

Jeff Malm-Annan

Ryan Manion

Connor Parker

Andy Sullivan

Adam Szott

Army West Point Athletics