WEST POINT, N.Y. - Davenport University Men's Rugby traveled to New York to take on the Army Black Knights on April 8 for their first round of D1A 15's playoffs. Thus far into the season they have been continuously proving themselves as one of the better teams in the conference with an 8-3 overall record. Despite their record, they lost to Army in the USA Rugby D1A Playoffs. The final score against the Army Black Knights was 36-34. It was a true competition in its finest form. According to Head Coach Dustin Steedman, "It was a back and forth game from the first minute to the last. We played a full 80 minutes and gave last year's national champions more than what they bargained for".

The entire game has a level of intensity due to the back and forth of point gain. There was no room for Davenport to make mistakes with such an even match. Two major things that kept the Panthers so close in score was their ability to use all of their space and play on the edges of the field, and their pure strength in the scrums. Their pride and dedication to the sport does not go unnoticed. It was an amazing effort for the Davenport Men's Rugby Program as they continue to build over each and every season.

Scoring Breakdown for Davenport v. Army
Ethan Howard - 1 try (5 points)
Christiaan Van der Westhuizen - 2 tries (10 points)
Orlando Casey - 1 try (5 points)
Maris Kurti - 1 try (5 points)
Sean Nolan - 1 conversion and 2 penalty kicks (8 points)

This concludes the 2022-2023 15's season as the men's team move into their 2023 7's season.