Tennessee outlasts Army in overtime

April 19, 2008 (Albuquerque, NM) - The Volunteers gutted out a double overtime sudden death victory on Saturday over the US Military Academy (Army) in the consolation round of the USA Rugby Collegiate National Championship Tournament. Tennessee fought back from deficits at the end of regulation and again in overtime to secure the win. A determined charge following an extended break due to injury secured the victory for the Volunteers..

Tennessee and Army battled to a 34-34 tie. The Volunteers continually answered Army scoring with points of their own for the first 80 minutes. In the first half Chad Edmonds slotted two long range penalty kicks to help pace a 13-12 halftime lead. It didn't look favorable for the Volunteers however since they had the wind at their back and were running down hill in the first half yet only held a slim one point lead. Army scored two tries to open the second stanza and things weren't going right for the boys in orange. However, there was no quit for the club that has won at least one match in the national tournament in each of the past five years. This year's team wasn't going to be the team that broke that streak. UT answered with two tries and then had to score again in the closing minute to bring it back to even. Chad Edmonds calmly slotted the conversion from a difficult angle to send the game into overtime.

Rules required two 10-minute overtime periods (not sudden death) to be played and it started well for the Volunteers with a PK from Andy Melroy. Army quickly answered with two tries and then Steve Nabors scored his first career try for UT in the closing seconds of the second overtime period. Andy Melroy converted to knot the score again at 44 and send the marathon match to a 10 minute sudden death overtime period.

UT kicked off to Army with the wind at its back and immediately put the Cadets under pressure. A promising movement ended inside the 22 by a knock on after a violent collision involving senior wing Melroy. After an extended break in action to tend to Andy's injuries (checked out and released from a local hospital as a precaution) Tennessee continued the pressure. The Volunteer determination paid off as they got the ball back on a change of possession and put the ball and the outcome of the match in the hands of the UT backline. Flyhalf Edmonds slipped through the Army defense and dove over the last defender into the try zone and thereby securing the hard fought victory or the Volunteers. And then the celebrations began...

Special thanks to all of our parents and friends who made the trip to New Mexico and cheered like crazy for us throughout the contest. Also, a huge thanks to our friends from Arkansas State who supported us for most of the second half and greeted us in the try zone for the celebration following the winning try. Congrats to the Tribe for their impressive victory over Dartmouth in their match earlier in the day.

University of Tennessee 49, Army 44