Buena Vista, Va. – The Southern Virginia University rugby team dropped its Rugby East Conference home opener Friday afternoon against Mount St. Mary's University, falling 43-37 in a back-and-forth battle that came down to the final minutes.

The Knights struck first in the ninth minute as Brayden Lee and Jayden Filipe connected before Filipe delivered a behind-the-back pass to Calvin Wilson, who broke through the defense for the first try of the match. Southern Virginia took a 5-0 lead.

Mount St. Mary's answered in the 16th minute, powering through the Knights' defense off a throw-in to take a 7-5 lead.

Southern Virginia responded just two minutes later. Filipe and Tevita Vaea helped start a charge down the left side before Jayston Koi finished the attack with a try. Filipe converted the try to put the Knights ahead 12-7.

The Knights continued to apply pressure, as a throw-in from Weston Memmott was grabbed by Ammon Filipe and handed off to Hank Svedin, who powered through for another try in the 25th minute. The successful conversion gave Southern Virginia a 17-7 advantage.

The Mountaineers answered with two penalty conversions, cutting the deficit to 17-13 by the 37th minute.

Just before halftime, Southern Virginia added another try off a Memmott throw-in. Kavika Bringhurst secured the ball before Svedin pushed forward through the crowd for his second try of the afternoon, extending the Knights' lead to 22-13. Mount St. Mary's converted a late opportunity, however, making it 22-16 at halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Knights added another conversion from Vaea to push their advantage to 25-16.

Southern Virginia's defense continued to hold strong before the Knights added their fifth try off another Memmott throw-in. Milemoti Pulotu powered forward for the try, and Nick Vakatawa converted to give Southern Virginia a 32-16 lead.

The Knights continued to pour on the offense, with Bringhurst finding the try line, but the score was called back. Masi Filipe then delivered Southern Virginia's sixth try in the 65th minute, extending the lead to 37-16.

Mount St. Mary's began its comeback with its second try of the match, cutting the deficit to 37-23. The Mountaineers then added another try following a big kick and recovery in the 73rd minute, bringing the score to 37-37 with the game entering its final minutes.

Mount St. Mary's converted a late opportunity to take a 40-37 lead before adding another conversion in extra time to seal the 43-37 victory.

Southern Virginia will look to bounce back in its next Rugby East Conference matchup traveling to Navy on October 3rd starting at 11:000 AM in Annapolis, Maryland.