GUELPH, Ont. – The inaugural edition of the 'Cannon Cup' has the cup heading to back to West Point, New York. On Saturday, September 6, 2025 at the University of Guelph's Varsity Field, the Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team lost 38-28 in exhibition play against the Army Black Knights.
The exhibition match is part of a newly agreed upon partnership between the Guelph Gryphons men's rugby program and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, with the two rugby programs alternating hosting duties with one another while competing for the 'Cannon Cup' trophy.
Saturday afternoon's matchup between the Gryphons and Black Knights was a highly-entertaining and competitive affair as part of the Gryphons 'Rugby Day' which featured 'seconds' games, as well as a women's rugby 3:30pm matchup versus McMaster. In the Gryphons-Black Knights 1pm match, the host Gryphons were able to erase an early 14-0 deficit, with U of G tries from
Alistair Yeomans, Kal Sager,
Graeme Tremain and
Brenden Black giving the Gryphons a 28-19 lead by the 69' minute. But the visiting Army Black Knights would answer back late in the match to escape Varsity Field with the win, with three tries in the final seven minutes of play giving Army the 38-28 victory.
The four-time defending OUA champion Gryphons will now shift their focus to their 2025 OUA regular season schedule, with Guelph set to travel to St. Catharines next Saturday (Sept. 13) to face the Brock Badgers in the regular season opener. The Gryphons will play back-to-back road games (Sept. 13 at Brock, Sept. 20 at Toronto) before returning to Varsity Field on Sept. 27 for a home opener matchup versus the Western Mustangs.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Minute |
School |
Type of Score |
Player |
Convert Good? |
Updated Score |
| 14' |
Army |
Try |
13 Cort Schmidlin |
Yes (Howie Heller) |
Army 7 – Guelph 0 |
| 33' |
Army |
Try |
3 Gabe Savage |
Yes (Howie Heller) |
Army 14 – Guelph 0 |
| 38' |
Guelph |
Try |
2 Alistair Yeomans |
Yes (Tomas Dallan) |
Army 14 – Guelph 7 |
| 41' |
Guelph |
Try |
6 Kal Sager |
Yes (Tomas Dallan) |
Army 14 – Guelph 14 |
| 44' |
Guelph |
Try |
12 Graeme Tremain |
Yes (Tomas Dallan) |
Army 14 – Guelph 21 |
| 59' |
Army |
Try |
13 Cort Schmidlin |
No |
Army 19 – Guelph 21 |
| 69' |
Guelph |
Try |
15 Brenden Black |
Yes (Tomas Dallan) |
Army 19 – Guelph 28 |
| 73' |
Army |
Try |
2 Andrew Bardak |
Yes (Howie Heller) |
Army 26 – Guelph 28 |
| 76' |
Army |
Try |
12 Chance Loudenback |
Yes (Howie Heller) |
Army 33 – Guelph 28 |
| 79' |
Army |
Try |
21 George Hemmen |
No |
Army 38 – Guelph 28 |
