Army Fights Past Notre Dame on Senior Day

Saturday, April 8

West Point, N.Y.

1 PM

Army West Point

Notre Dame (First Round)

Army Fights Past Notre Dame on Senior Day

April 08, 2017 | Men's Rugby

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point men's rugby team defeated Notre Dame 41-8 on senior day in the first round of the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup at the Anderson Rugby Complex.

The Black Knights improved to 12-2 on the year, while the Fighting Irish dropped to 8-9.

Prior to today's match, Army honored its 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.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Army limited Notre Dame to eight points in the match, its fewest points allowed since beating Wheeling Jesuit 53-7 on Oct. 15.
The Black Knights scored 40 or more points in a match for the ninth time this season.
Army won in the first round of the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup for the second year in a row after defeating Oklahoma last season, 55-10.
Jeff Malm-Annan took a skip pass from John Royston on his own side of midfield and burned the defense down the right sideline for the first score of the second half.
Sam Sutera took a pass from Andrew Fargo down the left flank and dotted down for his first career try.
Harrison Farrell took the ball at the Notre Dame 10-meter line and dodged multiple defenders on his way in for the score.

KEY MOMENT

Army had a pair of seven-minute defensive stands deep in its own territory to keep Notre Dame from scoring.
The first came from the eighth to 13th minutes that prevented the Fighting Irish from taking an early lead.
The second stop came deep into extra time (87th minute) when Army was down two players who received yellow cards and held Notre Dame to single digits in the match.

SCORING TIMELINE vs. NOTRE DAME

Second minute: Penalty Kick – Jon Kim (Army leads, 3-0)
18th minute: Try – Luke Heun; Conversion – Jon Kim (Army leads, 10-0)
24th minute: Penalty Kick – Notre Dame (Army leads, 10-3)
30th minute: Try – Notre Dame (Army leads, 10-8)
39th minute: Try – Austin Rutledge; Conversion – Jon Kim (Army leads, 17-8)
45th minute: Try – Jeff Malm-Annan (Army leads, 22-8)
52nd minute: Try – Sam Sutera (Army leads, 27-8)
60th minute: Try – Harrison Farrell; Conversion – Jon Kim (Army leads, 34-8)
75th minute: Try – Eli Brown; Conversion – Jon Kim (Army leads, 41-8)

THE TEAM vs. NOTRE DAME
1. Connor Parker (Austen Deppe @ 45th) 2. Ryan Moshak (Tony Smith @ 71st) 3. Adam Szott (Eli Brown @ 52nd) 4. Mitchell Sanderson 5. Rob Niscior (Will Miller @ 69th) 6. Austin Rutledge 7. Ryan Manion (Ben Vasta @ 49th) 8. Ben Lemon 9. John Royston (Harrison Farrell @ 45th) 10. Jon Kim 11. Sam Sutera (Andrew Fargo @ 49th) 12. Luke Heun 13. Torran Raby 14. Jeff Malm-Annan (Nathan Williams @ 52nd) 15. Jake Lachina

COACHES CORNER

Head Coach Matt Sherman - "Victory under the pressure of single elimination playoffs is always a great achievement. To do so at home on senior day is particularly pleasing. We are proud of, and grateful for, this senior class. They will have achieved what we all aspire to do by improving the program and leaving it in a better place than when they first got here. However, their work here isn't done. As happy as we are to win, we know our best performance is still in front of us. What an opportunity we have to compete on the road against a formidable Penn State team next weekend."

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