Black Knights Prevail in the 2025 Army-Navy Women's Rugby Star Series Match

by Warren Rosenberg - MetroSports Magazine October 27, 2025

This past Saturday, October 25^th 2025, on Warrior Field of the Anderson Rugby Complex at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the Women’s Army Rugby team defeated visiting Navy in the final regular season match of 2025.

Above: The final score - Army 84 : Navy 0 - displayed on the Warrior Field scoreboard

In addition to being a contest between two teams of the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA), the match was also part of the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA. Army’s dominating 84-0 win over Navy and secured a spot for Army in the upcoming National Intercollegiate Rugby Association playoffs and the Women’s Rugby win over Navy advanced Army’s standing in the Star Series to a 3-0 advantage.

The Army-Navy Star Series is a multi-sport competition between Army and Navy service academies at West Point, NY, and Annapolis, Md.  Each year, the two military academies face each other in 24 different sports with a "Star" being awarded to the winner of the event in each of the designated sports.

Above: Army Black Knights coach, Jenn Salomon-Clayton (second from left in jacket) with members of the Women's Army Rugby Team (WAR) during pre-match warmups.

In Saturday’s match, it didn’t take the Army Black Knights squad long to start the scoring. Cadet Taimane Fiatoa securing the first goal for Army in the opening minutes of the match and Alissa Eisenhart then made the first of her three first-half conversions for an early 7-0 lead. Just a few minutes later Cassidy Ball scored again for Army followed by two consecutive goals from Emily Steen and goals by Cecilia Ollis, Taimane Fiatoa (again), Grace Macune, and Chloe DeLeon. The first half ended with Army holding a 46-0 advantage over Navy.

Opening the second half scoring, Army’s Grace Macune scored her second goal followed by scoring runs from Alissa Eisenhart, Alyssa Davis, Chloe DeLeon, and Cassidy Ball. With under a minute left in the match, Emily Steen capped of Army’s dominant performance with a final 3-point drop goal.

The rugged defensive play by the West Point team held Navy scoreless through both the first and second halfs of the contest. Navy head coach, Murph McCarthy stated after the match that, "Army was clearly the better team today. Hats off to them and I wish them the best in the playoffs.”  In a post-match interview, Black Knight’s first year head coach, Jenn Salomon-Clayton told MetroSports Magazine, “What a way to close out the regular season with a victory over Navy. The energy was electric. We showed up ready to play and executed a clinical performance on both sides of the ball. This is exactly the momentum we want heading into the postseason.”