BROOKVILLE, N.Y. - The Navy women's rugby team (2-2, 1-2) rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat Long Island (1-2, 1-2), 19-18, on Sunday in Brookville, N.Y., for its first National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) league victory.
 
Miracle Haynes provided the go-ahead try with under five minutes remaining. The victory marked the first time the Mids have won a match after trailing at halftime in their varsity history.
 
"Great to get a win today. We were behind for about 75 minutes and the team learned a lot today about perseverance as well as patience," said head coach Murph McCarthy. "Proud of the way they stayed in it and we improved as it went right up until the final whistle."
 
Navy took control in its offensive zone following a penalty against Long Island in the seventh minute. Lilliana Gemma booted a free kick out of bounds right at the 22-meter line for a lineout. The Mids were penalized on their attack toward the try zone and the Sharks received a free kick to send the ball back to midfield. Long Island used a clearing kick to move the ball down to its offensive five-meter line. The Sharks then received a lineout at the 22-meter line after a clearing kick from Megan Leitz traveled out of bounds. Long Island charged to the five-meter line and was awarded a scrum on a penalty. The Sharks attacked to the right out of the scrum and a diving effort led to their first try in the 10th minute to take a 5-0 lead.
 
Long Island committed a knock-on penalty on the ensuing kickoff to set up Navy in great field position. The Sharks were then penalized on the scrum and the Mids opted to attempt a penalty kick. Abby Hershner nailed the kick from 25 meters to give Navy its first points of the contest.
 
The Mids turned the ball over during a breakdown shortly after the kickoff to grant the Sharks possession in their offensive zone. Navy forced Long Island to commit a penalty during its attack to form a scrum. The Mids won the scrum and looked to use a clearing kick to gain back territory. The ball landed at the 10-meter line, but then bounced backward and out of bounds to award the Sharks a lineout. Long Island used a big carry to advance past the 22-meter line and was gifted a penalty kick opportunity due to a foul on Navy. The Sharks sent the kick through the uprights in the 19th minute to take an 8-3 lead.
 
Hershner had an opportunity to cut the deficit to 8-6 with a penalty kick in the 26th minute. Her attempt went just left of the upright to keep Long Island's five-point lead intact.
 
Navy still had an opportunity to score with the ball deep in its offensive zone. A penalty against the Mids during their attack granted the Sharks a free kick. The kick stayed in bounds, but Siena Hall dropped the ball at midfield and was called for a knock-on to award Long Island a scrum. The Sharks won the scrum and moved the ball into their offensive 22-meter zone thanks to a 50-22 kick. A bad pass by Long Island pushed its attacking line back to the 10-meter line. The ball was scooped up by a Shark and she used her speed to get to the edge and past Navy's defense. The ball carrier then cut back toward the middle of the pitch and she sprinted into the try zone untouched for a score in the 30th minute. Long Island made the conversion kick to take a 15-3 lead.
 
An excellent clearing kick from Gemma pushed the ball deep into Navy's offensive zone after the score. The Sharks did recover the kick, but were issued a penalty to award the Mids a free kick. Gemma sent the attempt out of bounds just outside the five-meter line. Haynes performed a tap-and-go following an additional penalty against Long Island and she ran over two defenders standing in her way to score a try in the 36th minute to bring Navy back within seven points.
 
The Mids let the ensuing kickoff bounce all the way down to the five-meter line in their defensive zone. Mia Young tried to run upfield to regain territory, but a Long Island defender tackled her out of bounds to award her team a lineout inside the 22-meter zone. The Sharks earned their second penalty kick in the 37th minute and their kicker sent the ball through the uprights for another three points to take an 18-8 lead.  
 
The Sharks had an opportunity to take a 13-point lead on another penalty kick less than two minutes into the second half. The kick went wide left to keep the score at 18-8.
 
Navy powered its way back into its offensive zone with a strong attack and received a free kick on a penalty against Long Island. Gemma kicked the ball out of bounds inside the five-meter line to put the Mids in scoring position. The Sharks stood strong over the next few minutes and reclaimed possession on a penalty. Long Island pushed the ball back outside of the 22-meter line with a clearing kick. Young quickly went on the attack after catching the kick and provided a big run to keep Navy in its offensive 22-meter zone. A penalty on the Sharks set up a penalty kick chance for Hershner in the 48th minute and she made the attempt to pull the Mids back within seven points.
 
Hershner made her third penalty kick of the contest in the 62nd minute, but Navy still trailed by four points with under 18 minutes to go.
 
Long Island advanced the ball into its offensive 22-meter zone with a big carry out of a won scrum in the 64th minute. A penalty against the Mids granted a free kick to the Sharks and their kicker sent the ball out of bounds at the five-meter line. Navy's defense stayed composed over the next few minutes to keep Long Island out of the try zone. The Sharks tried to attack out wide toward the left sideline, but bobbled the ball and lost possession.
 
Navy slowly powered back outside of its defensive 22-meter zone and a big carry from Young advanced the ball back across midfield. Long Island did regain possession on a knock-on penalty near the 10-meter line to go back on the offensive. The Sharks then received a free kick from a penalty against the Mids. Long Island's kicker didn't send kick out of bounds and Gemma was able to set up a big return to move Navy back into its offensive zone. A penalty on the Sharks gifted the Mids a free kick and Gemma booted the ball out of bounds inside the 22-meter zone. Jess Mckenzie tossed the ball right to Hershner on the lineout to set up a maul. As Navy was driving forward, Haynes took the ball out of the maul and attacked down the left sideline. Long Island was unaware Haynes had the ball and she easily scored from 20-meters out to give Navy the lead for the first time in the 75th minute.
 
The Sharks used an explosive carry to advance the ball into their offensive 22-meter zone less than a minute after Haynes' go-ahead score. Long Island was awarded a scrum from a penalty against Navy and quickly attacked to the right to try and retake the lead. However, Charlotte d'Halluin came up big with the biggest defensive play of the match. She punched the ball out while tackling the ball carrier to reclaim possession for the Mids. Navy used short attacks over the next two minutes to melt the clock and d'Halluin sealed the match by kicking the ball out of bounds.
 
Haynes scored her first two tries of the season to lead the Mids with 10 points.
 
Hershner nailed three penalty kicks to finish the match with nine points. She has accounted for a team-leading 25 points and has made eight penalty kicks this season.
 
Navy continues its road stretch against Brown next Saturday in Providence, R.I. The Mids and Bears will kickoff from Berylson Family Fields at noon.
 
Box Score
First Half
10:05 - Try - Long Island (0-5)
 
14:34 - Penalty Kick - Navy - Abby Hershner (3-5)
 
19:26 - Penalty Kick - Long Island (3-8)
 
30:30 - Try - Long Island (3-13)
Conversion Kick - Long Island (3-15)
 
36:20 - Try - Navy - Miracle Haynes (8-15)
 
37:45 - Penalty Kick - Long Island (8-18)
 
Second Half
48:54 - Penalty Kick - Navy - Abby Hershner (11-18)
 
62:26 - Penalty Kick - Abby Hershner (14-18)
 
75:27 - Try - Navy - Miracle Haynes (19-18)