ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Powered by 17-unanswered points in the second half, the Navy women's rugby team (2-3, 2-3 NIRA) secured a 36-19 Senior Day victory over Queens (1-5, 0-5 NIRA) on Saturday afternoon at the Prusmack Rugby Center.
 
Navy featured a balanced offensive attack with tries from Tory Pahland, Aleksandria Gabbard, Layla Lujan, Caroline Shegogue, Ellie Pierson and Cecilia Izquierdo. Meagan Alvarez kicked one conversion and Mia Young added two. Queens was led by Cece Scarf, who recorded a try and two conversions, along with tries from Mandy Gutierrez and Akayla Towels.
 
The match opened as a back-and-forth defensive battle until Queens struck first in the 10th minute with a try by Scarf.
 
Navy responded in the 22nd minute when Pahland crossed the try line, followed by an Alvarez conversion for a 7-5 lead. Just over three minutes later, Gabbard found a gap out of a ruck and sprinted untouched down the middle of the field to extend Navy's lead to 14-5.
 
The Royals answered in the 29th minute with a try from Gutierrez. Navy then closed out the half strong, as Lujan cashed in her first try of the season in the 38th minute to give the Midshipmen a 19-12 advantage at the break.
 
Queens seized the momentum early in the second half when Towels used a strong run to push across a try in the 49th minute, and Scarf's conversion tied the match at 19-19.
 
"I think the difference in the second half is we just needed to settle in with what we were doing," Navy head coach Murph McCarthy said. "We were a little frantic in attack, and we were constantly putting our hands in the ruck and we were paying for it. Once we cleaned that up, everything started to really gel well with the back line."
 
Following the adjustments, the Midshipmen took complete control. Shegogue broke the tie with a try in the 60th minute to put Navy back in front, 24-19.
 
In the 67th minute, crisp passing found Pierson on the wing, who slammed in a try to push the margin to 10 points. Izquierdo then capped off the scoring flurry in the 70th minute, powering through the defense and racing down the sideline for the final 36-19 margin.
 
Navy will close out its 15s competition next Saturday with the Army-Navy Star Match in Annapolis at the Prusmack Rugby Center at 11 a.m.
 
Box Score
9:10 – Queens – Try – Cece Scarf (0-5)
 
21:50 – Navy – Try – Tory Pahland (5-5)
Conversion kick – Meagan Alvarez (7-5)
 
25:32 – Navy – Try – Aleksandria Gabbard (12-5)
Conversion kick – Mia Young (14-5)
 
28:48 – Queens – Try – Mandy Gutierrez (14-10)
Conversion kick – Cece Scarf (14-12)
 
37:43 – Navy – Try – Layla Lujan (19-12)
 
48:29 – Queens – Try – Akayla Towels (19-17)
Conversion kick – Cece Scarf (19-19)
 
59:20 – Navy – Try – Caroline Shegogue (24-19)
 
66:45 – Navy – Try – Ellie Pierson (29-19)
 
69:14 – Navy – Try – Cecilia Izquierdo (34-19)
Conversion kick – Mia Young (36-19)