SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – In a second half comeback effort, Notre Dame College was able to get past Army 31-26 in the final minutes on Saturday afternoon.
Army scored within the first two minutes on a rolling maul which placed them in the right side of Notre Dame's try zone. The Black Knights scored three of their four tries off of a maul.
NDC trailed by 14 points at one point of the match. It seemed that the Falcons played the first 20 minutes of the second half inside their own 22, but the Falcons maintained composure through the most difficult times.
The Falcons fought hard, trying their best to keep the ball in the territory of Army, but penalties and missed assignments helped the Black Knights to keep the ball away from their own try zone. After a try from
Marcus Tupuola and then
Cory Graham, the Falcons were still down two with less than two minutes to play.
The Falcons' tenacious defense kept the ball inside the five meter mark of the Black Knights, forcing them to rid the ball. Army had to clear it with a kick, but sophomore
Corbin Williams had other plans. Williams chased down the kick and blocked it inside Army's try zone. After the block, Williams gathered up the ball and dove right underneath the posts to put the Falcons up three points, allowing freshman
Jasper Windsor Clive to add on another two points on the conversion. The Falcons won the match over a very physical and well-disciplined Army team.
"It was an honor and a privilege to have West Point come play us here at NDC during our Homecoming and I was very happy that we were able to recognize veterans at halftime, as many of the veterans were parents and grandparents of our current Falcon Rugby Family players," head coach
Jason Fox said. "I think all were treated to a great game of rugby by two of the top teams in the country."
The Falcons have finished their home stand and begin their road trip, next week, against the University of Buffalo on September 30. The match is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m.