Men's Rugby

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Norwich University men's rugby team traveled to West Point to take on the rugby power house Army, and the Black Knights scored 52 unanswered points to defeat the Cadets, 57-5.

It was a spectacular day for rugby along the Hudson River, looking out onto West Point's multi-million dollar rugby complex.

Norwich, still juggling the lineup from missing players, came ready to play. Army got on the scoreboard first on the wing at the six minute mark. Three minutes later, Norwich came storming back and had a try scored by freshman #8 Drew Poalino. The Cadets had an opportunity to take the lead but the conversion sailed just left of the posts. At the 10 minute mark, the score was tied at 5-5.

Norwich, with renewed confidence, fought hard in attack but could not convert into points. Army's speed and strength began to kick in, and the Black Knights stormed to a 31-5 halftime lead.

Norwich came out of the locker room determined and played deadlocked for over 10 minutes of play. The Cadets again had opportunities inside Army's territory, but the solid Army defense held.

Army scored its first points of the second half 12 minutes into the second half to bring the score to 36-5. The Norwich ruggers contested to the final whistle. The Cadets' penalty kick fell short of the crossbar as the match ended with Army victorious, 57-5.

"Although we came up with a loss there was much skill development from the previous week," said Norwich head coach Bob Weggler. "I was especially pleased with freshmen #8 Drew Poalino, prop Brandon Dennin, fullback Ross Reid, sophomore's flanker John Drue-Mabb and prop Eric Poalino. Each played the entire 80-minute match in their respective position, for the first time as a collegiate, and the opponent was West Point."

The Cadets return to action next weekend when the Cadets host Dartmouth. The match is slated to kickoff at 1:30 p.m.