Wheeling, W. Va. – All week, the Wheeling University Rugby team has been awaiting their opponent in the first round of the upcoming National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) 15'S playoffs. On Tuesday night, they discovered who their opponent would be as the NCR released the bracket for the Men's DI 15's Playoffs. The Cardinals will host Belmont Abbey in the first round at Bishop Schmitt Field on Saturday night at 6:30 PM.
The Cardinals clinched their spot in the NCR playoffs last Saturday when they defeated Adrian College 33-21. It was a competitive affair throughout the night and, through the first 38 minutes, neither team was able to score a try. The Cardinals converted three conversion kicks to take a 9-3 lead and a late Bulldogs try in the 38th minute made it 10-9 when the teams headed into halftime. The Cardinals would respond with three second half tries and added another conversion kicks to put up their final 14 points of the match. The Cardinal's defense remained stingy, allowing 11 second half points, and the Cardinals held on for their first DI playoff win and punched their first-ever ticket to the NCR 15's DI playoffs.
As a team, the Cardinals are hitting their stride at the right time, having won each of their last three matches. During that stretch, they have scored 30+ points in all three games while allowing 26 points or less on the defensive side. In their first full season as a DI NCR program, the Cardinals faced their fair share of challenges. The inaugural Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) was strong with all six team's showing up in the NCR Top 20 Coach's poll at some point during the season. Wheeling didn't start the year the way they wanted to, dropping four of their first six matches and sat at 2-4 overall and 1-2 in BRRC play. However, as the second half of the season hit, Wheeling turned it on and now sit at 5-4 overall and 3-2 in BRRC play while having won the first ever BRRC playoff game.
The NCR DI playoffs are filled with strong teams strung about the Top 20 Coach's poll. There are four teams locked into the Quarterfinal round, which will be played on November 19th, and four more teams that still have to play their way in. Brown, AIC, Indiana, and Thomas More have already clinched a spot and are awaiting Quarterfinal opponents. The Cardinals will be in one of those first round matches as they take on Belmont Abbey for a chance to play Brown. On the other side of the bracket, Siena and Fairfield will fight for a chance to battle Thomas More. The final two Quarterfinal spots will be taken by the Rugby East #1 and the Rugby East #2 teams, who will play AIC and Indiana respectively.
Wheeling Rugby's first round NCR 15's match is scheduled for 6:30 PM at Bishop Schmitt Field. The live coverage links will be available shortly.
