UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — No. 10 Penn State Men’s Rugby hosted No. 5 Army in a Rugby East matchup Saturday afternoon at West IM Fields, with the Nittany Lions falling 43–8 in a physical contest.
Penn State opened the scoring in the ninth minute when freshman flyhalf Charlie Fullard converted a penalty kick to give the Nittany Lions an early 3–0 advantage.
Army responded in the 20th minute with a try and conversion to take a 7–3 lead. Penn State continued to battle through a physical first half, with the Nittany Lions making several substitutions before freshman winger Jack Dempsey received a yellow card in the 33rd minute.
Army carried a 7–3 advantage into halftime.
The No. 5 Black Knights extended their lead with a penalty kick in the 46th minute before adding a converted try in the 57th minute to make it 17–3. Army continued to apply pressure, scoring again in the 61st minute to extend its advantage to 24–3.
Penn State answered shortly after when sophomore Shea Summers crossed the try line in the 63rd minute, cutting the Army lead to 24–8.
Army responded with another converted try in the 68th minute and added two more tries in the final 10 minutes to close out the match with a 43–8 victory.
The match provided No. 10 Penn State with another opportunity to compete against one of the nation's top programs and highlighted areas for the Nittany Lions to continue developing as Rugby East play progresses.
Penn State will return to action Oct. 17 when it hosts Life University at West IM Fields in University Park.