ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's rugby team (2-4-1, 1-4-1) couldn't take advantage of late scoring chances in its Sunday afternoon match against Mount St. Mary's (1-3-1, 1-3-1), resulting in the game ending in a 17-17 tie.
 
"Proud of the way the team played today. It was a tough match and a lot of strange things happened," said head coach Murph McCarthy. "We battled hard the entire game, but walking away with a draw is a weird feeling. I'm excited because we have gotten better each week and that continued today. We're excited for our next game against Army in a Friday night lights match."
 
A huge play by Mount St. Mary's gave it the lead just 1:40 into the match. The Mountaineers held the ball near their defensive 22-meter line and worked it toward the right sideline. The Mount St. Mary's ball carrier received an offload and broke through a pair of tackles to move the ball up to midfield. She then offloaded the ball to a teammate, who broke another two tackles to run over 50 meters for a try. The Mountaineers made the ensuing conversion kick to take a 7-0 lead.
 
Mount St. Mary's took advantage of a pair of penalties against Navy to quickly return to its offensive zone. The Mountaineers could've taken a free kick at their offensive 10-meter line from a penalty against the Mids, but chose to perform a tap-and-go. Mount St. Mary's dropped a pass during its attack to allow Navy to go on the offensive. The Mids worked the ball out to Alexis Rohrbach on the left sideline and she sprinted across midfield before being brought down from behind. Kat Kadima provided another strong carry to advance to ball to Navy's offensive 10-meter line. Megan Leitz received the next pass and kicked the ball downfield to help the Mids charge further up the pitch. A Mountaineer attempted to receive the kick, but it bounced off her chest into the hands of Annabelle Hong. Hong put on the jets and ran 25 meters before touching the ball in the try zone to make the score, 7-5, in the seventh minute.
 
The ball remained in Navy's offensive zone for the majority of the next 16 minutes of play. The Mids pushed into their offensive 22-meter zone twice in the time frame, but a penalty and turnover negated both scoring chances.
 
The Mountaineers retained possession at their defensive 10-meter line in the 23rd minute after tackling Mia Young out of bounds. Navy was called for an offsides penalty on the ensuing lineout to gift a free kick to Mount St. Mary's. The Mountaineers booted the ball out of bounds across the midfield line for a lineout. A bad throw-in attempt forced Mount St. Mary's to retreat back to its defensive 10-meter line and its kicker launched a clearing kick across the halfway line. The Mountaineers pursued Lilliana Gemma on the return and forced the ball out on the next breakdown. Navy kept possession after the official signaled that Mount St. Mary's committed a knock-on penalty on the play. The Mountaineers stole the ball during a breakdown to regain possession in their offensive zone. Navy was penalized on the next breakdown after the turnover and Mount St. Mary's lined a free kick out of bounds inside its offensive 22-meter zone. The Mountaineers formed a maul after winning the lineout to advance down to the five-meter line. Mount St. Mary's passed the ball across the pitch from right to left and found a gap in Navy's defense to score a try in the 28th minute to regain a seven-point lead.
 
The Mountaineers were charged with a knock-on penalty after dropping the ensuing kickoff to set up the Mids in their offensive zone. A penalty during a breakdown against Mount St. Mary's in the 33rd minute awarded Navy a free kick. Gemma sent the attempt out of bounds near the five-meter line. The Mids lost possession after committing a knock-on penalty during the lineout. The Mountaineers stormed out of their defensive 22-meter zone with a big carry, but fumbled the ball on a hard hit from Leitz. A powerful rush from Maggie Geiger set up the Mids inside their offensive five-meter line. Mount St. Mary's was called for another foul during a breakdown to gift Abby Hershner a tap-and-go. She lowered her shoulder on the defenders in front of her and touched the ball down in the try zone for a score in the 38th minute. Hershner had an opportunity to tie the match with her conversion kick, but the wind carrier it wide right to make the score, 12-10, at halftime.
 
A booming clearing kick from Leitz pinned the Mountaineers behind their defensive five-meter line in the 45th minute. Mount St. Mary's began to regain territory, but a bad pass rolled 10-meters backward. The Mountaineers did keep position because the Mids were issued a knock-on penalty attempting to corral the loose ball. Mount St. Mary's won the scrum and passed the ball backward to set up a clearing kick. However, the low pass was dropped and Navy earned a scrum at its offensive five-meter line from the knock-on penalty. Lindy Gostage punched the ball across the try line from short range in the 48th minute to give the Mids their first lead of the contest. Hershner extended Navy's lead to 17-12 with a made conversion kick.
 
The Mids received a scrum at midfield after the kickoff failed to go past the 10-meter line. Navy was eager to go on the attack to add to its lead, but was penalized on the scrum to award a tap-and-go to Mount St. Mary's. The Mountaineers went on the offensive down the left sideline and charged into their 22-meter zone with a 30-meter carry. Hershner brought down the ball carrier to save a try, but she was given a yellow card for a high tackle in the 52nd minute. Navy was forced to play down a player and Mount St. Mary's quickly advanced within a meter of the try line. A Mountaineer tried to stretch the ball into the try zone, but was charged with a knock-on penalty after dropping the ball forward.
 
Mount St. Mary's regained possession near the five-meter line after Navy was called for an offensive penalty. The Mountaineers committed another knock-on penalty after the tap-and-go and Leitz booted the ball out of the 22-meter zone with a clearing kick. Missed tackles after the lineout resulted in Mount St. Mary's moving back into their offensive 22-meter zone. The Mountaineers caught the Mids out of position with an attack back to the left of the pitch and scored a try just before the 57th minute. Mount St. Mary's could've taken a two-point lead with the conversion kick, but the attempt sailed wide right to keep the score tied.
 
A costly knock-on penalty by Mount St. Mary's in the 60th minute granted Navy a scrum near its offensive 22-meter line. The Mids bobbled the ball forward during their attack out of the scrum and the official signaled the play was a knock-on penalty. The Mountaineers pushed the ball back to their defensive 10-meter line, but a sloppy pass resulted in a turnover. Mount St. Mary's was given a yellow card for a penalty during a breakdown in the 63rd minute to award Navy a penalty kick. Hershner attempted the kick from just beyond the 22-meter line, but couldn't put the ball between the uprights.
 
Impressive kicking by Leitz allowed the Mids to maintain control of the pitch. After receiving the 22-meter dropkick, she booted the ball down to the five-meter line with a clearing kick to set up a lineout for the Mountaineers deep in their defensive zone. A short clearing kick by the Mountaineers was caught by Siena Hall at the 22-meter line and she bolted to the middle of the pitch. Hall then floated a long pass to Rohrbach, who had no defenders in front of her. She tried to pull down a high pass, but committed a knock-on penalty to return the ball to Mount St. Mary's.
 
The Mountaineers flipped the field with a long carry in the 71st minute. Mount St. Mary's then shifted its attack to the left sideline. Hall was the lone defender in the area and she made a great one-on-one tackle to drag the ball carrier out of bounds to regain Navy possession. Hershner received a pass out of the lineout and ran through the defense to advance the ball past the offensive 10-meter line. Hannah Brink picked up the ball out of the breakdown and tapped a kick down the right sideline to Gemma. Gemma would have easily scored a try after recovering the kick, but the referee said she was offsides to spoil the scoring chance.
 
The Mids forced another turnover after the Mountaineers had stormed back into their offensive zone. A terrific clearing kick by Leitz was ruled a 50-22, earning Navy a lineout in its offensive 22-meter zone in the 75th minute. The Mids turned the ball over on the lineout, but the Mountaineers were charged with a penalty to gift a free kick for Gemma. Gemma launched the kick out of the back of the try zone, resulting in Mount St. Mary's gaining scrum from the spot of the kick. Navy reclaimed possession after knocking the ball free during the attack. A defensive penalty against the Mountaineers on the next breakdown allowed the Mids to attempt a penalty kick to take the lead in the 78th minute. Hershner's kick from 30-meters out was just off the mark and the game remained tied.  
 
Navy had one last opportunity to score after stealing the ball in extended time. The Mids worked the ball into the 22-meter zone with a series of offloads. Navy passed the ball out to the left sideline and the official called a forward pass to end the match.
 
Hershner scored her second try and made her third conversion kick of the season to lead the Mids with seven points. The senior increased her scoring total to 46 points. Her scoring effort helped her pass Nicole Deprey for the second-most points scored in a single season.
 
Hong and Gostage both contributed their first tries of the 2023-24 campaign to finish with five-points each.
 
Navy concludes the regular season with the first Army-Navy Rugby Star Match next Friday in West Point, N.Y. The match is part of the Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA. The contest is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
 
Box Score
First Half
1:40 - Try - Mount St. Mary's (0-5)
Conversion Kick - Mount St. Mary's (0-7)
 
7:20 - Try - Navy - Annabelle Hong (5-7)
 
28:30 - Try - Mount St. Mary's (5-12)
 
38:32 - Try - Navy - Abby Hershner (10-12)
 
Second Half
48:46 - Try - Navy - Lindy Gostage (15-12)
Conversion Kick - Abby Hershner (17-12)
 
56:58 - Try - Mount St. Mary's (17-17)