Men's Rugby Struggles to Produce Scoring Against Cal

Saturday, March 7

Berkeley, CA

6:30 PM

Army West Point

Cal

Men's Rugby Struggles to Produce Scoring Against Cal

March 08, 2020 | Men's Rugby

BERKELEY, CA – The Army West Point men's rugby team opened its spring season Saturday afternoon in a tough matchup with the Golden Bears of the University of California. The Black Knights fell in a 60-22 battle, moving their overall record to 6-5.

Army came out of the gate hot, forcing the Golden Bears into making key mistakes. The Black Knights were able to hold the Bears to only a seven-point lead heading into the half, giving them a fighting opportunity in the second half.

Senior Marco Carrabotta was the driving force for the Black Knights offense, leading the team with two tries on the day. Carabotta was joined by Nolan Green and Matthew Meehan in the scoring efforts, as the three produced a run of scoring in the first half to move the team to only a five-point deficit. Meehan and Carabotta notched back to back tries for the Black Knights at the 29:37 and 20:18 mark, giving Army a 10-7 lead. Green then completed a conversion to increase that lead to 12-7 with five minutes remaining in the half.

Carabotta would score again in the second half but ultimately the Golden Bears efforts allowed them to move past the Black Knights 60-22.

SCORING TIMELINE VS. CAL

8^th minute: TRY – Cal; Conversion – Cal leads, 5-0
11^th minute: TRY – Matthew Meehan – Cal leads, 7-5
20^th minute: TRY – Marco Carabotta – Conversion (N. Green) – Army leads, 12-7
35^th minute: TRY – Jack Manzo – Conversion (M. Schumacher) – Cal leads 14-12
38^th minute: TRY – Cal – Cal leads 19-12

Halftime Score: Cal 19, Army 12

44^th minute: TRY - Sam Cusano – Conversion (M. Schumacher) – Cal leads, 24-12
48^th minute: TRY – Max Schumacher - Conversion (M. Schumacher) – Cal leads, 33-12
55^th minute: TRY – Marco Carabotta – Cal leads, 33-17
59^th minute: TRY – Cal – Conversion (M. Schumacher) - Cal leads, 40-17
64^th minute: TRY – Cal – Cal leads, 45-17
70^th minute: TRY – Army – Cal leads, 45-22
72^nd minute: TRY - Keanu Andrade - Cal leads, 50-22
79^th minute: TRY – Ken Kurihara – Cal leads, 55-22
80^th minute: TRY – Marcus Shankland -Conversion (M. Schumacher) – Cal leads 62-22

The Black Knights will return to action on Wednesday against Central Washington University at 7 PM (EST).

For more on Army West Point men's rugby, follow us on Twitter at @ArmyWP_MRugby and Facebook at WestPointRugby.