WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Navy rifle team's attempt to secure the 2017 Star came up short on Saturday at Army's Tronsrue Marksmanship Center by a final score of 5823 to 5788. The Mids (8-6, 2-6 GARC) ran into a Black Knights (5-6, 3-5 GARC) team that used their experience, home-range advantage and a scorching first half in smallbore to earn the victory.

"This was a tough day for us, not from a performance level because I felt we shot decent and according to our average, but from the standpoint that our opponent just short really, really well and there's nothing you can do to stop it," remarked head coach Bill Kelley. "Army shot a top-notch match in smallbore that is by far their best single-match score of the season and possibly in their program history. We didn't shoot badly, but it wasn't enough. I'm very pleased with how we responded in air rifle with our second-best result of the year and a six-point margin over Army."

Projected to come into Saturday's matchup with a six-point advantage in smallbore, Army surpassed the anticipated 2873 by 26 points to the tune of a final total of 2899. Navy fell within the vicinity of its predicted 2867 with a 2858. Daniel Jonas (Sr., Allentown, N.J.) led the Mids' charge with his second-best smallbore score of the season with a 583. He finished second overall amongst the 16 shooters who competed in the smallbore portion of the event. Underclassmen Josh Watson (So., Enterprise, Ala.) and Alex Muzzioli (Fr., Tiverton, R.I.) tied for second in Navy's lineup with identical 576 marks. In both shooters' cases, Saturday's scores were over four points better than their season average. A pair of freshmen rounded out the Mids' smallbore counting scores as Kestrel Kuhne (Fr., Everett, Pa.) and Amy Hammer (Fr., Central City, Pa.) posted 563- and 560-point efforts, respectively.

Down 41 points coming out of the intermission, Navy put its head down and got back to work on the comeback trail with a strong air rifle performance. The Mids had six of their eight shooter post scores of 580 or better in the air rifle with the top-five scorers recording a cumulative total of 2930. That score was 13 points better than the predicted total coming into the event for Navy. Though valiant in their effort, the Mids' comeback was subdued by the Black Knights, who posted a 2924 in air rifle to only allow six points to be cut off the final margin.

Thomas Sarant (Jr., Massapequa, N.Y.) was the high-scorer for Navy's air rifle lineup with a 588. Jonas was right behind with a 587-point result that tied his season-high. Muzzioli equaled Jonas' output with a 587 before Watson and Kuhne capped Navy's scoring with respective totals of 585 and 583.

Army seniors Marvin Lewis and Danielle Cuomo went one-two in the aggregate standings with respective scores of 1177 and 1172. Jonas finished the match with the third-highest aggregate total amongst the field with a career-best 1170. Muzzioli also posted a career-high aggregate score with 1163 points to rank fourth on Saturday.

"Daniel did a great job for us today and showcased great experience and composure throughout the match," said Kelley. "Alex was also great today and continues to show his growth. He's continued building on some very good performances these past few matches."

Saturday's match used a unique eight-up, five-count scoring style. For NCAA scoring purposes, Navy recorded 4624 points. The NCAA format consists of five shooter lineups with the top-four scores counting.

"At the end of the day, we're a young talented team that is gaining experience every day and every match, but you can't recreate what goes on in Star Matches," said Kelley. "We walked to the line with four plebes and two youngsters. We saw today how much match experience matters."

Navy will step away from the competition line for two weeks before concluding its regular season with its annual NCAA Qualifying Match. The Mids will host the Bloodhounds of John Jay on Saturday, Feb. 18 at the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range beginning at 9 a.m.