ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's rugby fell in its exhibition match against Trinity College Dublin, 36-14, on Tuesday at the Prusmack Rugby Center in Annapolis, Md.
 
Navy took a 7-5 lead in the 45th minute of the contest, but Trinity struck for 31-unanswered points to claim the win.
 
"Win, lose or draw, we knew we were going to take valuable lessons from this game against one of the best teams in Ireland. It's tough to lose, but we don't fear losing. We are okay with the loss as long as we can take lessons away from it," said director of rugby Gavin Hickie. "Today we learned about the subtleties, nuances, speed and how any inaccuracy will be punished in a game against a high-quality opponent like we saw today. There were a lot of positives, but when you play the game at the very top level and you're inaccurate, you get punished. That is an important lesson for us to see.
 
"There was a lot of progress from our perspective and we are our own measuring stick. We are on our own journey and we focus on ourselves. We're down a little bit, but we will come back stronger and better in our next match against Indiana."
 
Roanin Krieger nearly executed a 50-22 kick in the sixth minute. Trinity retrieved the ball before it went out of bounds, but only kicked the ball back to midfield to give the Mids possession in their offensive zone. Trinity was called for a penalty in the eighth minute and Navy opted to attempt a penalty kick from behind the 10-meter line. Krieger's kick was just off the mark from going through and the score remained tied, 0-0.
 
The ball remained between the 10-meter lines over the next four minutes. Navy was awarded a scrum at midfield after forcing a knock-on penalty on a tackle. Landon Opp received the pass out of the won scrum and kicked the ball out of bounds. However, because he kicked it off a pass outside the 22-meter zone, it gave Trinity a lineout from where he kicked it. Trinity formed a maul out of the lineout to establish possession inside the 22-meter zone. The Mids were issued a penalty for not rolling away to grant a scrum to Trinity. Trinity moved inside the five-meter line with its attack out of the scrum and its scrum half snuck into the try zone in the 16th minute for the first score of the match.
 
Navy's defense kept Trinity stuck in its defensive zone over the next four minutes. A forward pass by Trinity granted the Mids a scrum just past the 10-meter line in the 20th minute. Jack Aleman found space down the left sideline after a pass from Opp and gained over 15 meters on the carry. He had only one man to beat for a try, but was tackled at the 22-meter line. The Mids attempted to work quickly to keep the pressure on Trinity, but threw the ball backward to midfield to lose the territory advantage. Navy regained possession after Trinity kicked the ball out of bounds to form a lineout at the 22-meter line. The Mids were unable to corral the throw-in attempt and Trinity executed a grubber kick to move the ball back to Navy's 10-meter line.
 
The Mids attempted to use their maul attack to gain ground after winning a lineout at midfield, but were penalized to award Trinity a scrum. A big carry of over 20 meters out of the scrum pushed Trinity inside the 22-meter zone. Trinity was less than a meter away from its second score in the 29th minute, but the Mids came up with a huge turnover to keep the deficit at 5-0.
 
Navy pushed Trinity back to the 10-meter line in its defensive zone and was gifted a scrum after a knock-on penalty. Sean MacLaney dropped the ball out of the scrum and Trinity ran the ball back inside the 22-meter zone. A 15-meter gain off an offload moved Trinity back inside the five-meter line in the 37th minute. Trinity had a player wide open down the right sideline, but the pass went forward to squander another scoring opportunity.
 
Opp flipped the field with a deep kick and Navy gained possession at Trinity's 10-meter line thanks to a well-executed counter ruck to force a penalty. The Mids then drove the ball inside the 22-meter zone with under a minute remaining. Navy missed out on a chance for a late score after dropping a pass and being issued a knock-on penalty to end the first half.  
 
Trinity was called for offsides on the kickoff to begin the second half to allow the Mids to establish possession inside the 22-meter zone. Trinity's defense forced Navy back behind the 22-meter line with a pair of hard tackles. Trinity regained possession after a knock-on penalty and kicked the ball back into its offensive zone. Krieger received the kick and ran over 20 meters to move the Mids back to the halfway line. A high tackle against Trinity awarded Navy a free kick and Opp booted the ball into the 22-meter zone. The Mids won the lineout and mauled forward just outside the five-meter line. MacLaney then ran through three Trinity defenders to score Navy's first try in the 45th minute. Krieger made the conversion kick to give the Mids a 7-5 lead.
 
Navy didn't hold the lead for long. Trinity responded with a pair of powerful runs to establish possession inside the 22-meter zone in the 47th minute. The Trinity ball carrier found a gap in the defense and ran over 15 meters into the try zone. Trinity made the ensuing conversion kick to retake the lead, 12-7.  
 
The Mids regained control of the pitch at the 10-meter line in their offensive zone after pressure from Opp forced a short kick from Trinity. Navy committed another turnover on the lineout and was called for a high tackle to give Trinity a scrum at midfield. An additional penalty against the Mids allowed Trinity to perform a tap-and-go and the ball carrier ran over 40 meters to move possession inside the five-meter line. Trinity attacked right out of the ensuing ruck and was able to just keep the ball carrier in bounds down the right sideline for a try in the 56th minute to gain a 17-7 lead.
 
Trinity took control of the match with another three tries over the next 15 minutes, but Navy found success offensively in the final five minutes to earn another score.
 
Trinity dropped the kickoff after its try in the 71st minute to give the Mids the ball just outside the 22-meter line. Navy earned a free kick on a penalty against Trinity and Krieger sent the ball out of bounds at the five-meter line to form a lineout. Navy won the lineout, but committed a knock-on penalty to give Trinity a scrum. Trinity kicked the ball back to the 10-meter line in its defensive zone to force Navy to reset its attack. A penalty gifted the Mids a free kick and Krieger set up the Mids inside the 22-meter zone for a lineout. After winning the lineout, Jacob D'Amico received an offload from Ben Haugh and he split two defenders to score a try in the 80th minute. Krieger concluded the match with his second successful conversion kick.
 
Navy returns to the pitch on Saturday, Sept. 16 to play host to defending Big 10 champion Indiana. The match will kickoff at 1:30 p.m. at the Prusmack Rugby Center.
 
Box Score
First Half
16:46 - Try - Trinity (0-5)
 
Second Half
45:50 - Try - Navy - Sean MacLaney (5-5)
Conversion Kick - Roanin Krieger (7-5)
 
48:40 - Try - Trinity (7-10)
Conversion Kick - Trinity (7-12)
 
56:05 - Try - Trinity (7-17)
 
60:08 - Try - Trinity (7-22)
 
65:54 - Try - Trinity (7-27)
Conversion Kick - Trinity (7-29)
 
71:08 - Try - Trinity (7-34)
Conversion Kick - Trinity (7-36)
 
80:30 - Try - Navy - Jacob D'Amico (12-36)
Conversion Kick - Roanin Krieger (14-36)