BOYDS, Md. – The Navy women's rugby team splits its two matches Saturday during the first day of the 7s Collegiate Championship at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md. The Mids defeated West Chester 10-0 in the opening round before falling to the two-time defending 7s champion Brown 24-7 in the quarterfinals.

"The team battled through some nerves in the first match against West Chester. We played a slow attack but it paid off with two tries in the second half," said head coach Murph McCarthy. "Brown is and always has been a tough opponent.  We had early miscues that put us in too deep of a hole to come out of."

Match Recaps
Navy vs. West Chester (W, 10-0)
Navy opened the match with patient running which forced a yellow card on a Golden Rams defender in the second minute. The Mids used the man-up advantage to drive into West Chester's 22-meter zone for the first time on the day, but was negated due to a knock-on penalty.

The Golden Rams had their first solid drive with a big run deep into Navy's territory in the third minute. A forward pass stalled the drive as the Mids regained possession.

The back-and-forth defensive battle continued for the rest of the first half as the match went into halftime scoreless.

Navy put the first five points on the board when Mia Young capitalized off a West Chester penalty. Young caught the Golden Rams' defense sleeping after the penalty whistle with a quick tap-and-go to run in the first try of the match in the 11th minute.

Lara Olmsted tallied the last points in the match when she scored the Mids' second try in the 14th minute. Olmstead shook off two defenders to run in her first collegiate postseason try.

Navy vs. Brown (L, 24-7)
The Mids ran into the powerhouse Brown team in the quarterfinals.

The Bears showed their strength by driving into Navy's 22-meter zone just seconds into the match. The Mids were penalized for not releasing, then the Bears used efficient passing from the penalty scrum to find the corner of the try zone to take a 5-0 lead.

Brown continued to dominate the first half and added 14 more points with a pair of tries and conversion kicks.

Navy let the second half opening kick go out of bounds for a lineout opportunity. The Bears intercepted the throw to run in their fourth try in the eighth minute.  

The Mids would lessen the wound on the scoreboard with a try in the 14th minute when Alexis Rohrbach ran the length of the field for the final points of the match.

"The team will regroup and we're looking forward to competing tomorrow. This is a fun tournament and filled with teams from all over the country," remarked McCarthy.

Navy will face Queens on Sunday at 11:40 a.m. in the first round of the Plate bracket. Fans can watch on The Rugby Network with the link on navysports.com.

Box Scores
Navy vs. West Chester (W, 10-0)
First Half
No scoring
Second Half
 
10:39 – Try – Navy – Mia Young (5-0)
 
14:27 – Try – Navy – Lara Olmsted (10-0)
 
Navy vs. Brown (L, 7-24)
First Half
1:33 – Try – Brown (0-5)
 
2:55 – Try – Brown (0-10)
Conversion kick (0-12)
 
5:24 – Try – Brown (0-17)
Conversion kick (0-19)
 
Second Half
 
7:40 – Try – Brown (0-24)
 
13:30 – Try – Alexis Rohrbach (5-24)
Conversion kick – Hannah Brink (7-24)