ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy Director of Athletics Michael Kelly honored the men's rugby team as the winner of the 2025-26 NAAA Director of Athletics Cup. The Director of Athletics Cup was established to recognize intercollegiate excellence and the Naval Academy varsity team that exemplifies itself as a standard bearer in academics, leadership, varsity competition, conduct, aptitude for commission and honor.
This marks the second time the men's rugby program has won the prestigious award, having previously claimed the cup following its inaugural varsity season in 2022-23.
Navy compiled an 11-2 overall record during the 2025-26 campaign, imposing its will on both sides of the ball. The Midshipmen outscored opponents 541-246 on the year, boasting an offensive attack that averaged 41.6 points per game and a stout defense that surrendered just 18.9 points per contest.
The Mids posted a 5-0 Rugby East Conference record to capture their fourth-consecutive league championship. They earned a key conference victory over Life University, 29-21, backed by
Roanin Krieger's 14 points (one try, three conversions, one penalty kick) in a hard-fought battle between the premier programs in the Rugby East.
A major highlight of the fall campaign was a thrilling 21-16 victory over No. 5 Army in the Army-Navy Star Game at West Point. Trailing late, the Mids scored 14 points in the final 10 minutes to complete a stunning comeback.
Avion Ganse broke two tackles and dove across the try line in the 78th minute for a walk-off try to seal the rivalry win over the Black Knights.
During the spring, Navy went 2-1 to finish the regular season and ranked No. 2 in the Collegiate Rugby Association of America (CRAA) power rankings. The Mids opened the spring with a 52-8 home victory over No. 9 Mount St. Mary's in Annapolis before closing out the regular season with a 54-28 rout of No. 9 BYU.
Earning the top seed in the CRAA East Bracket, Navy marched through the postseason with victories over No. 11 Mary Washington (40-11), No. 6 Army (38-10) and No. 4 Life (35-21). The playoff run propelled the Mids to the National Championship game for the third time in four years, where they ultimately dropped a hard-fought 36-22 title game to No. 1 California.
The Mids had a league-leading 11 athletes were named to the Rugby East All-Conference teams. Krieger,
Edmund Soeder,
Michael Strehle and
Austin Taylor received First-Team All-Rugby East recognition.
Aidan Bryan, Ganse and
Kade Williams garnered second-team honors. Additionally,
Aidan Gerber,
John Masino and
Max Smith collected honorable-mention accolades.
Nationally, eight Mids earned D1A All-America accolades from the CRAA, including
Andrew Baublitz, Bryan,
Ian Bullock, Ganse, Krieger, Soeder, Strehle and Taylor.
Krieger turned in another dominant year, leading the Rugby East in scoring for the third-straight season with 77 points in conference play (two tries, 26 conversions, five penalty kicks). His performance marked the fourth-consecutive season a Midshipman has led the league in scoring.
Overall, Krieger paced the team in total points (182), conversion kicks (63) and penalty kicks (12). He finishes his decorated career as Navy's all-time leader in points (673), conversions (205) and penalty kicks (56). He also became a three-time finalist for the Rudy Scholz Award, presented to the top men's collegiate rugby player in the country.
Baublitz led the Mids with 11 tries scored throughout the season and cemented his place in the record books as Navy's all-time try scorer with 38.
The program's standard of excellence was also recognized on a broader scale, as Taylor became the first men's rugby student-athlete to win the Naval Academy's Coaches' Calvert Award.
