ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The Navy men's rugby team (3-0, 1-0 Rugby East) extends its Rugby East winning streak to 17-straight with a road victory over St. Bonaventure (0-1, 0-1 Rugby East), 41-23, on Saturday afternoon.

"We are delighted with the result in our first Rugby East game of the season. St. Bonaventure is a notoriously difficult place to come and play," remarked director of rugby Gavin Hickie. "We gave away a cheap early try and were left scratching our heads over a number of ill discipline calls against us which allowed them to get points on the board.  We never felt under sustained pressure despite the early scoring they were able to capture."

Navy kickoff the match pushing St. Bonaventure inside its own 22-meter zone. In an attempt to flip the field position, a botched Bonnies clearing kick ricochet of a defender and into the arms of flanker Tanner Russell to give Navy an early offensive attack. St. Bonaventure constant defensive pressure prevented the Mids from advancing the ball and forced a turnover as each team displayed its aggressive defense early on.

In the first scrum of the day after a knock-on penalty by Navy went in the advantage of the Bonnies. The front line of St. Bonaventure collapsed, a penalty was awarded to the Mids who elected for a penalty kick to go up first on the scoreboard. The Midshipmen primary kicker, Roanin Krieger, capitalizes for his second penalty kick of the season and gives Navy an early 3-0 lead.

At the 35-minute mark, St. Bonaventure took advantage of a Midshipmen turnover at midfield and was picked up by a Bonnies player who dashed all the way down the field for their first try of the game. After a successful conversion kick, Navy trailed 7-3; it's the second time trailing all season.

The Midshipmen responded with a pair of tries of their own to go up 15-7. Navy quickly responded to take back the lead in the 32nd-minute mark, showing its maul power, it drove down inside St. Bonaventure's 5-meter line and a pass to Aidan Gerber to locate the try zone put the Mids back on top.

In the 20th-minute mark, the Bonnies were threatening for their second try of the match but a crucial tackle made by Kade Williams forced a Bonaventure player to step out of bounds just inches from the try zone. Resulting in a throw-in play, Navy was backed up in its own 22-meter zone and was forced to maul its way for breathing room to attempt a clear kick and flip field position. Minutes later, the Midshipmen gained possession in St. Bonaventure's five-meter zone and continued to take advantage of their maul power for a try.

Each team traded a penalty kick conversion for three points as Navy went into halftime with a two-possession lead, 18-10.

The Midshipmen continued their offensive momentum in the second half pushing the Bonnies defense in their own territory, scoring 10 points in the first nine minutes. St. Bonaventure was penalized for a high tackle. Navy elected for its third penalty kick on the day that was converted by Krieger for his third of the day. The Mids displayed their crisp passing as Krieger tracked sophomore wing Andrew Baublitz who slammed in his second try of the season to extend the lead, 28-10.

The Bonnies would try to slowly chip away on Navy's lead with a pair of penalty kicks off a scrum and no release penalty to add six points of their own.

Sophomore Adam Mertens registered his first career try as St. Bonaventure defense was too aggressive and left Merterns wide open to walk to the middle of the try zone. The successful conversion extended the Mids lead, 35-16.

Despite being down 19, the Bonnies continued to fight and pushed their way deep into Navy's 22-meter zone. A quick tap by a St. Bonaventure caught the defense off guard to find the try zone and shortened the Midshipmen lead, 35-23.

Navy made St. Bonaventure pay on two more penalties as it added six more points off the foot of Krieger who drained both kicks in the final minutes of play. Krieger finished the match with 21 total points and set a program record, five penalty kick conversions in the match.