Wheeling, W.Va. - The Wheeling Jesuit Men's Rugby team found themselves on the short end of the scoreboard on Saturday afternoon 24-17 at Oglebay Park when they hosted the Penn State Nittany Lions.

With the loss Wheeling Jesuit falls to a 2-3 overall and 0-1 in Rugby East play, while Penn State improves to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in Rugby East.

Penn State took an early 5-0 lead when Danny Metcalf scored a try in the eighth minute shortly followed by Joe Kelly's long range try in the 13^th minute to put the Nittany Lions up 10-0. Neither conversion attempt was successful. At that point, it was starting to look like it would be a walk in the park for PSU.

The Jesuit forward pack then began to get to work in the rainy conditions. Second-row standout Corbin McInnis (Charlotte, N.C.) put his Cardinals on the board with a powerful try in the 22^nd minute followed by a successful conversion from John Stapleton. Stapleton would add a penalty kick in the 28^th minute to tie the score at 10-10.

The Nittany Lions broke the tie in the 39^th minute when Tommy Bashara scored and Sean Herbert connected on the conversion to bring the score to 17-10 in favor of the visitors.

With less than three minutes to go in the half, captain Luke Titus (Sydney, Aus.) once again tied the score as he put one in for the Cardinals, crashing through the PSU defense. Stapleton's conversion from the touchline was successful, and the halftime score was deadlocked at 17-17.

The second half would prove to be a defensive battle with neither side wanting to give up possession of the ball. Wheeling Jesuit had several missed opportunities due in part to poor tackling and ball handling in the sloppy conditions.  Eventually Penn State would capitalize on a missed opportunity when Jonathan Hellmann scored and Sean Herbert followed with a successful conversion to put the Nittany Lions up for good 24-17.

For the Cardinals, the close loss means more than just numbers on the board. For the new program the outcome represents months of hard work put in by a largely freshman and sophomore team, and announces their ability to compete in the highest echelons of college rugby.

Wheeling Jesuit has moved on and looks forward to their next opponent Kutztown University, which will be another Rugby East matchup. The game will take place at 2:00pm on Saturday at Kutztown University.

WJU 17
Tries: McInnis, Titus
Pens: Stapleton
Cons: Stapleton (2)
 
Penn State 24
Tries: Metcalf, Kelly, Bashara, Hellmann
Cons: Herbert (2)