Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Rugby team (11-5, 3-2) got the 7's season started off strong in February when they won the PITT Dome 7's Championship. They are back at it on Saturday with their second 7's tournament of the year, and look to bring back some more hardware as they head to the Terrapin 7's. It will be the largest Pool Play field that the Cardinals have had to face so far this season, with five games throughout the day leading up to the championship bracket later in the evening.
In that first 7's tournament of the year, the Cardinals went a perfect 5-0 on their way to claiming the tournament championship. They started the day off against the host school PITT and put on an impressive showing on both sides of the ball with a 31-0 win. They allowed their first points of the day in their next pool game against Michigan, but won 33-7, and narrowly escaped with a victory in their final pool game, a 21-15 victory over the University of Rio Grande. Once the championship portion of the day began, the Cardinals took their game to the next level as they took on Nazareth College and were once again in a tight game as they earned a 24-19 victory to move to the championships. They would end up taking care of business in their final game, taking down Notre Dame College 43-0 to claim the tournament championship.
Leading the way for the Cardinals in that tournament was junior Mohamad Haddar, who got it done both scoring the ball and kicking it. Haddar led the team with 10 tries across the five games and added a 6-10 (60%) showing on conversion kicks. The 10 tries were more than Haddar scored all of 15's season as he used his speed to get down the sidelines and across the try line. His biggest showing of the tournament would come against Nazareth College in the first championship round game, when he scored three tries and converted on three of his five conversion kicks on the day. Haddar will be looked at once again to be a spark in this tournament as the team chases down a National Championship opportunity.
After having a consistent kicker for most of 7's season last year in former Cardinal Ayoub Jalli, the Cardinals would spread the love for the kicking duties this season. Haddar had the most conversion kick attempts for the team, going 6-10, but Lawula Bata and Achraf Boutfanzout also showed their chops in the kicking game. Bata was 5-7 (71.4%) on the day while Boutfanzout added a 3-4 (75%) effort. With the games being only 14 minutes long during 7's season, conversion kicks are more important than ever. The Cardinals will look to convert on as many of those kicks as they can as they enter this second 7's tournament of the year.
The team released their official schedule for the Terrapin 7's tournament on Thursday, and it features the largest pool play competition so far this season. They open the day against the host Maryland Terrapins with kick-off scheduled for 11 AM in their latest start of the season so far. They follow that up with three more pool play games against Nazareth College, St. Bonaventure, and Rowan University. With a larger pool field, it puts more pressure on the Cardinals to be more consistent throughout the day. After Pool play concludes, the Championship round will begin at 5:40 pm as the Cardinals look to position themselves for a championship run.
Terrapin 7 Details
The Terrapin 7's will be hosted by the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, with the first game of the day beginning at 9 AM. Pool Play will run for most of the day, with the final Pool match beginning at 4:30 PM. After that, Championship round play will begin at 5:40 PM with the top teams from Pool play facing off in the championship.
The Matchups
Maryland: The Cardinals and Terrapins are meeting for the second time in program history, with the series being tied at 0-0-1. It will be the first time the two teams have seen each other since the 2012-13 season and will also be their first ever meeting in 7's play. It will also be Wheeling's second-ever trip to College Park, Maryland as they look to record the first win in the all-time series. In their last meeting, the teams tied 26-26. Former Cardinal Brandon Stine led the way with two tries in that game while former Cardinal John Stapleton added a try of his own.
Nazareth College: The Cardinals and Eagles are meeting for the second time this season and in program history. Their first meeting came in the Championship round of the PITT Dome 7's when Wheeling came through with a slim 24-19 victory. That was the best game of the day for Mohamad Haddar, who scored three tries and converted two conversion kicks on the day. The Cardinals look to make it two in a row against the Eagles this season.
St. Bonaventure: The Cardinals and Bonnies are meeting for the 10th time in program history and the fourth time in 7's play. Wheeling leads the all-time series so far, with a record of 5-4 and broke a three-game losing streak at last season's CRC 7's. This is their first 7's meeting since last year's National Championship event, where the Cardinals were able to win 22-14. The Cardinals defense played a big role in that game, holding St. Bonaventure off the board on their final possession to help secure the win.
Rowan University: The Cardinals and Owls will be meeting for the first time in program history in the final Pool game of the day on Saturday. Rowan Rugby is a club team that is competing in their first CRC 7's qualifier event of the spring season. The Cardinals look to open the all-time series with a win as they chase down their second tournament championship of the spring season.
The Details
The first game of the day for Wheeling in the Terrapin 7's Tournament is set to begin at 11 AM in College Park, Maryland. Stay tuned to wucardinals.com all day for updates on the tournament throughout the day.
