The US Naval Academy opened their Atlantic Coast Rugby League account with a convincing 55-0 shutout of North Carolina State Saturday in Annapolis, Md.

Navy defended the tough NC State forwards well, holding the Wolfpack scoreless.

“If you don’t defend their maul and their pick-and-goes well, you’re going to have trouble,” said Navy Head Coach Mike Flanagan. “I liked our defensive effort, but I think we converted on maybe a third of our scoring opportunities:

Led by a strong performance from Sam Gedeon at inside center and with Andy Stellato earning man of the match honors at flanker, Navy put in a good early performance.

Halfbacks Ricky Feller and Jack McAuliffe worked well together and Ron Helms was another standout for Navy.

“This is a good start for us and we have a bunch of teams to play we’re excited about playing – teams like Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Virginia,” said Flanagan. “These are teams we used to play a lot, and then stopped playing. It’s really great to get back to those rivalries. Then we can work toward peaking for the Varsity Cup.”