ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Navy women's rugby team (2-2, 2-2 NIRA) used a dominant second-half effort to defeat Long Island (1-3, 1-3 NIRA) 31-14, at the Prusmack Rugby Center in Annapolis. The victory snapped a two-game slide for the Mids.
 
"It was an awesome performance today by these ladies," said Navy head coach Murph McCarthy. "We had a really good week of practice after a tough two weeks against quality opponents and we were excited to face Long Island. The first half was definitely a battle, but we went into halftime with some adjustments that we wanted to make and we and we executed those adjustments in the second half and shut them out."
 
The Midshipmen scored 17 unanswered points after halftime to secure the victory. Giada MacNamara led the way with two tries, including the go-ahead score early in the second half, while Mia Young converted three conversion kicks.
 
Navy trailed early after LIU's Kori Fields scored the first try in the 10th minute. Bigue Kah responded for the Mids with her first try of the season in the 18th minute. After a back-and-forth first half that featured multiple turnovers and penalties from both sides, MacNamara powered over the line in the 30th minute for her first career try to tie the score at 14 heading into halftime.
 
"Giada [MacNamara] has gotten better every day since she joined the team and I knew it was a matter of time for her to have a performance like she had today," said McCarthy. "She carries the ball well, she's smart and is a really good defender."
 
The Mids took control of the game six minutes into the second half when they turned a lineout into a powerful maul inside the Sharks' 22-meter zone, where MacNamara punched in her second try of the match to give Navy its first lead.
 
Caroline Shegogue added to the lead as she sliced through LIU's defense in the 57th minute and Layla Lujan sealed the win with her second try of the season in the 76^th minute.
 
Up Next
Navy will visit Princeton next Saturday for a 12 p.m. kickoff in Princeton, N.J.
 
Box Score
10:00 – Try – LIU – Kori Fields (0-5)
Conversion kick – Deja Peary (0-7)
 
17:44 – Try – Navy – Bigue Kah (5-7)
Conversion kick – Mia Young (7-7)
 
22:05 – Try – LIU – Sayles Russel (7-12)
Conversion kick – Harper Schnider (7-14)
 
30:04 – Try – Navy – Giada MacNamara (12-14)
Conversion kick – Mia Young (14-14)
 
46:41 – Try – Navy – Giada MacNamara (19-14)
Conversion kick – Mia Young (21-14)
 
57:00 – Try – Navy – Caroline Shegogue (26-14)
 
75:36 – Try – Navy – Layla Lujan (31-14)