WHEELING, W.Va. – Wheeling Jesuit University will make their long awaited return to the friendly confines of the James LaRossa Athletic Complex to take on the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure in their first home match of the spring season, scheduled to kickoff at 3:00 pm on Saturday, April 13th.
The Cardinals come into the match with a 9-3-1 overall record in their inaugural season, but have not played a home match since October 27
th, when they beat John Carroll 41-10. They return to campus following a loss at the hands of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish last weekend in South Bend, Ind.
The Bonnies come to Wheeling ranked first in the traditionally strong Empire Conference, and have already clinched a D1-AA playoff birth.
“This will be a great test for us,” said WJU Head Coach
Eric Jerpe “We need to rebound from the loss to Notre Dame, and the Bonnies will provide our guys a stern test. We've had a positive and energetic week of training, so I think it will be an exciting game.”
WJU will be looking to two of their strongest players to lead them into battle against the large and physical Bonnies.
Peter Malcolm (Parkland, Fla.) and
Dante Walters (Sacramento, Calif.), both freshmen, have been among team leaders in try scorers this season. Walters has nine tries to his name, and Malcolm with eight. Both players are strong runners and able to deliver punishing hits on defense as well.
“Peter and Dante have both been impressive this season.” Coach Jerpe added “They're fantastic athletes, and hard workers. When they are having a good match, it's fun to watch.”
The Cardinals are looking to fill the stands on Saturday, and introduce rugby to the sports-loving city of Wheeling. Coach Jerpe says rugby may look confusing at first, but is actually quite a simple game, and if you like football, you'll love rugby. “We do everything we can to teach you the rules of rugby, like printing a “rugby 101” section for our game day programs. You only need to know a few key rules to understand it, and once you do, its such an exciting sport.”
Wheeling Jesuit will return home next week on April 20th when they square off against the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.
