Comeback falls short for Navy men’s rugby in 26-22 national championship game loss to St. Mary’s

A furious comeback fell short and Navy was beaten by St. Mary’s of California, 26-22, in the Collegiate Rugby Association of America Division I-A national championship game, held Saturday at SaberCats Stadium in Houston.

Navy fell behind 21-0 in the first half before mounting an impressive rally in the second half. Sophomore center Roanin Krieger booted a penalty kick in the 70th minute to cut the deficit to four, but the Midshipmen came up short on a late attempt to score a go-ahead try.

“Congratulations to St. Mary’s on a well-played match. We are disappointed, but we will regroup and do everything in our power to get back to the national championship game again next year,” Navy coach Gavin Hickie said.

St. Mary’s scored less than two minutes into the contest thanks to a line break of more than 30 meters. Dominic Besag broke a couple tackles to reach the try zone and Mario Storti followed with a conversion kick to make it 7-0.

The Gaels received the ensuing kickoff and a lineout led to another huge gain and a perfect pass set up a 20-meter carry by Erich Storti, who took the ball across the goal line. Younger brother Mario Storti once again made the conversion kick and suddenly it was 14-0 with less than five minutes elapsed.

It appeared a rout might be in the cards, but Navy finally settled in and it became a grinding battle with the two teams trading possessions for the next 10 minutes. However, it was St. Mary’s that eventually gained ground thanks to superb passing with John Battle Wilson taking a pitch from Besag and finding a gap in the defense to score a try in the 25th minute. Mario Storti followed with the conversion kick and the Gaels held a commanding 21-0 lead.

“St. Mary’s started the game better than we did and we cannot allow that to happen. We should not have gotten into the hole we were in,” Hickie said. “You cannot fall behind big early and expect to beat good teams.”

Navy finally got on the board late in the first half with freshman center Andrew Baublitz (Archbishop Spalding) gaining 15 meters and senior fly half Landon Opp lining a free kick out of bounds inside the 5-meter line. That led to a try by senior captain Ben Haugh that reduced the lead to 21-5 in the 36th minute.

Unfortunately for the Mids, that momentum did not carry over into the second half. The Gaels got a big kick return up to midfield and once again used quick passing to gain big chunks of ground. Besag delivered a perfect lofting pass to Sosaia Pongi, who strode across the try line to increase the lead to 26-5 just 90 seconds into the second half.

Hickie said Navy’s defense was not up to the standard set all season up to that point.

“We missed some tackles and were not accurate enough with our execution on defense. We ran high with a couple tackles and got fended off,” he said.

However, Navy controlled play the rest of the way and outscored St. Mary’s 17-0 to put itself in position to pull off an incredible comeback win.

Opp sent a free kick out of bounds at the 5-meter line and Navy won the ensuing lineout. The Mids created a powerful maul and drove junior prop William Webb into the try zone in the 49th minute. Krieger made the conversion kick to cut the deficit to 26-12.

Another well-placed free kick by Opp set up a try by senior flanker Vaughn Schmitz, who dove across the line in the 66th minute. Another conversion kick by Krieger suddenly made it a one-score affair at 26-19.

Schmitz came up big again with a lineout steal two minutes later and that led to the penalty kick by Krieger, who pounded the ball between the uprights to make it 26-22.

“We were very confident going into the second half with the wind at our back. We have a very good kicking game and were able to use that to gain territory,” Hickie said. “We had 40 minutes left and we had to execute. Our backs were against the wall and we had to fight, which we did.”

Navy’s final scoring chance came in the 72nd minute courtesy of a knock-on. The Mids steadily surged forward over the next two minutes to get inside the 5-meter line. Haugh appeared to power his way in for a try, but officials ruled that St. Mary’s knocked the ball free with a hard tackle to force a critical turnover that thwarted what proved to be Navy’s last scoring opportunity.

“The game is won or lost on very fine margins. It is often a game of inches and that was the case on that try attempt [by Haugh],” Hickie said. “We just made too many mistakes, which is unfortunate and frustrating.”

St. Mary’s completed an impressive campaign that produced a perfect 18-0 record. Meanwhile, Navy finished 17-2 after falling just short of repeating as national champs.

Navy loses 18 seniors, including six starters, to graduation. However, the Mids return plenty of talented underclassmen and Hickie expects to add a strong recruiting class.

“We are a young team and there is plenty of room for improvement,” he said. “We expect to reach the national championship every year and the quest for 2025 begins now.”