ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's rugby team (7-0, 4-0) moved into first place in the Rugby East Standings with a 15-3 victory against St. Bonaventure (3-1, 3-1) on Saturday at the Prusmack Rugby Center in Annapolis, Md.
 
The two squads were forced to battle in extremely rainy conditions, but a pair of first-half tries by the Mids were the difference maker to extend their winning streak to 25 matches.
 
"I think it's fair to say that the weather conditions were a great equalizer today. We were left scratching our heads after this match. We were clearly dominant in a lot of areas of the game, but couldn't get everything clicking for whatever reason," said director of rugby Gavin Hickie. "Obviously that was an important game to win, but the conditions didn't allow us to play well. We did grind out a win because we were dominant in so many facets of play. We were very solid defending the try line and didn't allow St. Bonaventure to threaten us. We are where we wanted to be at this point of the season and have set ourselves up nicely to continue to move forward. The team is very excited about next week against Air Force to battle for the Lt. Col. Kevin Shea Memorial Rugby Cup."
 
The Bonnies garnered the first scoring opportunity of the match in the eighth minute. Navy committed a knock-on penalty at its offensive 10-meter line and was then called for a foul on the scrum to grant St. Bonaventure a free kick. The Bonnies kicked the ball out of bounds near their offensive 22-meter line for a lineout. The Bonnies used short attacks out of the ruck to move the ball forward. Tanner Russell plowed his way into the ruck and forced a penalty at the 22-meter line to reclaim possession for the Mids.
 
Navy pushed the ball back into its offensive zone after St. Bonaventure dropped the ball out of a scrum and Sean MacLaney lined a kick down to the 10-meter line. A big gain from Vaughn Schmitz on the attack advanced the Mids into their offensive 22-meter zone. Schmitz was unable to hold onto the ball as he was being tackled and the Bonnies retook possession.
 
The two teams exchanged blows back and forth for territory over the next five minutes. Avion Ganse launched a clearing kick down inside the five-meter line in Navy's offensive zone to pin St. Bonaventure back. The Bonnies tried to locate their clearing kick out of bounds, but the ball took a high bounce to stay in play. Landon Opp quickly emerged on the ball at the 10-meter line and sprinted down the right sideline to set up the Mids in their offensive 22-meter zone. Ganse then down inside the five-meter line with a 15-meter carry. St. Bonaventure quickly regrouped on the ruck and held up the ball in the try zone in the 22nd minute to receive a goal line dropout.
 
The Mids went back on the offensive after catching the goal line dropout and were granted a free kick from a not rolling away penalty against the Bonnies. Opp booted the attempt out of bounds at the five-meter line for a Navy lineout. The Bonnies stopped the Mids during their maul attack and forced them to pass the ball out wide. Roanin Krieger received the first pass out of the maul and slipped through two tackles to score a try in the 24th minute. Krieger also made the conversion kick after his score to give Navy a 7-0 advantage.
 
The Mids used a pair of kicks to send the ball back into their offensive zone after the kickoff. St. Bonaventure responded with a high and short kick, which was brought in by Opp just in front of the 10-meter line on Navy's defensive half of the pitch. Opp spun out of four tackles to gain 20 meters and advance the ball to the offensive 10-meter line. Opp then gave the Mids possession at their offensive five-meter line with a free kick earned from a penalty against the Bonnies. St. Bonaventure was called for a penalty during Navy's maul, resulting in another free kick. Opp sent the ball straight out of bounds for another lineout. The Mids went with the maul attack again to march across the try line and Jacob D'Amico was credited with the score in the 30th minute to extend the lead to 12-0.  
 
St. Bonaventure received its best field position in over 20 minutes after Aidan Gerber dropped the ensuing kickoff. The drop was called a knock-on to grant the Bonnies a scrum near their offensive 22-meter line. A defensive penalty against Navy gifted a penalty kick to St. Bonaventure and its kicker nailed the attempt in the 34th minute to make the score, 12-3.
 
The Mids controlled the ball in their offensive 22-meter zone twice in the final moments of the first half, but turnovers prevented another score before halftime.
 
Navy charged inside the five-meter line early in the second half thanks to a pair of powerful runs from Andrew Baublitz and D'Amico. The Mids were called for a penalty while trying to plunge the ball into the try zone to return possession to the Bonnies.
 
St. Bonaventure kicked the ball back to midfield a few minutes later and committed a costly penalty. As Russell was jumping up to catch the kick, a Bonnie defender took him down in the air to award the Mids a free kick. Opp booted the ball to the 22-meter line on the kick for a lineout. St. Bonaventure was then charged with engaging the lineout jumper to give Opp another free kick to push the ball down to the five-meter line. Navy couldn't find the try zone with the maul attack and was forced to pass the ball out wide. Krieger initially caught the pass from MacLaney cleanly, but the ball was jarred free as he was hit for a knock-on penalty.
 
The Bonnies were only able to send their clearing kick back to the 22-meter line to keep the Mids in scoring position. Two strong carries from Jack Aleman put Navy back at its offensive five-meter line. St. Bonaventure prevented short attacks up the middle of the pitch with its strong defense to force the ball out to the left. The Mids coughed up possession again during their next attack, marking the third-straight trip inside the five-meter line with no points scored.
 
Navy received a big break after St. Bonaventure was issued a knock-on penalty trying to catch its short clearing kick. The Mids quickly drove up the pitch after winning the scrum and the Bonnies were charged with a not-releasing penalty during a ruck. Coach Hickie opted to attempt a penalty kick to end Navy's scoring drought. Krieger made the kick from 15 meters away in the 56th minute to reclaim a 12-point lead for the Mids.
 
St. Bonaventure made an excellent play on the kickoff to gain possession inside its offensive 22-meter zone for the first time in the second half. The Bonnies blasted the kick high in the air and the ball was caught by a Bonnie right at the 22-meter line. With Navy's defense out of position, St. Bonaventure easily advanced inside the five-meter line on its next two carries. The Mids came together to form a brick wall and stopped the Bonnies during their attack by forcing a turnover. However, Navy was penalized on the ensuing scrum to grant St. Bonaventure possession right back on the five-meter line. The Bonnies were less than a meter away from scoring their first try, but committed a knock-on penalty attempting to reach the ball across the try line. Navy won its next scrum and Opp launched the ball back to midfield.
 
St. Bonaventure drove inside its offensive 22-meter zone twice in the final 10 minutes of play, but more turnovers prevented a late comeback. The Mids keeping the Bonnies off the scoreboard late in the match was critical. Had St. Bonaventure shrunk Navy's lead to seven points or less, it could have still earned one point toward its standing in the Rugby East. The Mids claimed four points by winning the match and are now stand in first place in the conference with 18 points. The Bonnies now drop to second place with 14 points after not earning any points in the match.  
 
Krieger once again finished in double figures with 10 points on a try, a conversion kick and a penalty kick. The sophomore has totaled at least 10-points scored in every match he has played in this season. Krieger increased his point total to 98 points this fall and scored his third try.
 
D'Amico's try was his second of the season. 
 
Navy takes a break from Rugby East competition to battle Air Force for the Lt. Col. Kevin Shea Memorial Rugby Cup next Saturday. The service academy showdown will begin at 10 a.m. at the Prusmack Rugby Center in Annapolis, Md.
 
Box Score
First Half
24:00 - Try - Navy - Roanin Krieger (5-0)
Conversion Kick - Roanin Krieger (7-0)
 
30:55 - Try - Navy - Jacob D'Amico (12-0)
 
34:40 - Penalty Kick - St. Bonaventure (12-3)
 
Second Half
56:40 - Penalty Kick - Navy - Roanin Krieger (15-3)