WEST POINT, N.Y. - Senior men's golfer Devin Terry (La Crosse, Wis.) earned a letter sweater following his freshman year, but has yet to wear it. In fact he's never even picked it up. He told his teammates he wouldn't wear his sweater until he earned a Star. But after Terry won the 18th hole of the final match on Sunday to halve the final point, he will finally make that march to retrieve his sweater and Star. The Midshipmen, who held a 3-1 advantage after Saturday's four-ball matches, won two singles matches and halved two others on Sunday to defeat Army, 6-5, at the West Point Golf Course.

"I didn't care where it happened, I just wanted to beat Army," said Terry, who has played in all four Star Matches during his career. "While we were up 3-1 after the first day, we knew it wouldn't be handed to us. We knew we had to buckle down and stick to our game plan."

The Mids did just that, but not without that much-anticipated fight from their counterparts from West Point.

Army drew even (3-3) early in the day, as senior Peter Kim posted a 3&2 victory over Navy's Eric Terminello (Jr. / White Plains, N.Y.) and Gunnar Doyle dealt Griffin Peters (So. / Fountain Hills, Ariz.) a 6&5 loss.

Thomas Fricke (Jr. / Haymarket, Va.), who paired up with Terry on Saturday for a 6&5 four-ball victory, put together a spectacular come-from-behind performance to defeat Army senior Justin Pagila. Down 3 with 6 to go, Fricke birdied 13 with a 35-foot putt, won the 14th with a par and then birdied the 16th with a 20-foot putt to pull even. Pagila, though, birdied 17 to go back to 1-up. On 18, both Fricke and Pagila had birdie putts inside of four feet. Fricke rolled his in for birdie, while Pagila missed his, giving Fricke a crucial half point.

"That was huge for us, for me in particular because it meant I only had to halve my match," added Terry. "There were no gimmes the way the greens were rolling, so that was a big, big putt on the part of Thomas."

Playing in his first Star Match, sophomore Matthew Starobin (Davidsonville, Md.) made 14 pars and a birdie to earn a 4&3 victory over Army rookie Max Messner, while team captain Connor Tallman (Sr. / Lake Oswego, Ore.) earned his first singles victory in the annual dual. Tallman made five birdies through 10 holes en route to his 4&3 win over freshman Justin Williamson, to not only go 2-0 for the weekend (paired with Thomas Garbee for 2&1 four-ball win), but give the Mids a 5.5-3.5 lead with two matches remaining.

Army's Nick Turner just edged out Navy rookie Thomas Garbee (Asheville, N.C.), 2&1, setting up a dog fight between Terry and Army sophomore Matt Plunkett in the final match of the day. Terry was 2 down after 11 holes, but won 12 and 13 to get back to even. Plunkett won 14, but a key par by Terry on the 16th hole brought them back to all-square. Plunkett won the 17th to go up 1 with the final hole to decide the match. Should Terry win the hole, Navy would win the match, 6-5. However, if Plunkett pulled out the win it would force a playoff.

Both Plunkett and Terry were just short of the par 5 18th in two, but Plunkett failed to convert for par. This allowed Terry two putts from 10 feet to earn the winning half point. He calmly stroked it to inches from the cup to seal the Star.

"I wasn't playing great golf today, but I was playing well enough that I could push for that last hole. I was fortunate enough to get my ball within 10 feet for the birdie, whereas my opponent had probably a 30-foot putt for par. He pushed it too far and I was able to come through for my teammates."

Navy, who owns a 2-1 advantage in this year's Star Series presented by USAA, leads the all-time men's golf series, 44-34-1. It's the program's first win at West Point since 2010, when the Mids also beat the Cadets, 6-5.

"This was a total team effort, with everyone contributing at some point over the two days," said Navy head coach Pat Owen, who has directed the Mids to 14 Star Match victories during his 27-year tenure. "All N-Star victories are terrific, but to see the hard work, preparation and dedication of this team come to fruition is really special. I am extremely proud of the guys!"


Four-Ball Results
Griffin Peters / Eric Terminello (Navy) def. Gunnar Doyle / Matt Plunkett, 2&1
Justin Pagila / Justin Williamson (Army) def. Paul Mauer / Matthew Starobin, 5&4
Thomas Garbee / Connor Tallman (Navy) def. Peter Kim / Nick Turner, 2&1
Thomas Fricke / Devin Terry (Navy) def. Max Messner / Brian Stecker, 6&5

Singles Results
Peter Kim (Army) def. Eric Terminello, 3&2
Gunnar Doyle (Army) def. Griffin Peters, 6&5
Thomas Fricke (Navy) halved Justin Pagila
Matthew Starobin (Navy) def. Max Messner, 4&3
Nick Turner (Army) def. Thomas Garbee, 2&1
Connor Tallman (Navy) def. Justin Williamson, 4&3
Devin Terry (Navy) halved Matt Plunkett


### Go Navy ###