Wheeling, W. Va. – The National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) DI National Championships came to Bishop Schmitt Field on Sunday for the wildcard round. It was a rematch of last year's CRC National 7's National Championship match, as Wheeling Men's Rugby welcomed in Kutztown. The rematch was as advertised, coming down to the final minutes of play, with the Cardinals pulling out the 34-28 win to advance to the NCR Quarterfinals.
Wheeling would take the opening kick-off and wasted no time getting on the board. After the ball went back and forth the Cardinals got possession in the third minute and moved down field. The ball starter wife with
Shadreck Mandaza and the Cardinals slowly worked the ball to the middle of the field. Mandaza pitched to
Aaron Juma who found
Alex Nyamunda streaking up the middle of the pitch. Nyamunda took it the rest of the way and an
Ayoub Jalli conversion kick made it 7-0 Wheeling. Three minutes later, the Cardinals came back to the kicking tee as
Joe Iye attempted a penalty kick in the 10
th minute. He sailed it through the uprights and Wheeling held an early 10-0 lead.
The Kutztown defense would stiffen over the next 10 minutes, allowing the Golden Bears to work downfield. In the 20
th minute, they got across the try line, cutting the Wheeling lead to 10-7. The Cardinals were held off the board for 21 minutes, but a Kutztown mistake would kick start the offense again.
Joe Iye was tripped at the try line, resulting in a penalty try that gave Wheeling a 17-7 advantage. Wheeling would take the ensuing kick-off and it took them under a minute to get right back into the offensive zone. Mandaza would use his speed to streak down the sidelines and he touched the ball down. Jalli would attempt a difficult angle on the conversion kick, and sliced it through to make it a 24-7 Cardinal lead.
Kutztown would push across one more try as the first half came to an end, and the teams went into the locker room with the score sitting at 24-14. Kutztown would use that momentum as they got the ball back. They scored a penalty try in the 46
th minute to bring it back to a three-point game at 24-21. Wheeling would add on a Penalty Kick courtesy of Jalli, making it a 27-21 game , and werelooking for some insurance. They would get what they needed courtesy of
Panashe Mugorogodi. He would find a lane outside and went across the try line, touching the ball down towards the center of the posts. Iye would kick through the conversion and Wheeling was out to a 34-21 lead. With 20 minutes to play, the Cardinal defense has to hold strong as Kutztown made one final push.
They would score another try in the 69
th minute to put more pressure on the Cardinals, making it a 34-28 game. There were 10 minutes on the clock and the Cardinals had to make one last stand. The Goldenn Bears made several pushes to the try line, but each time the Cardinal's defense stood strong. In the final minute, Kutztown was pushing towards the line and the defense would make one final stand. The Cardinals would force a turnover and it would bring the game to an end. The Cardinals moved on to the NCR Quarterfinal round for the third straight season as they continue their push for the NCR DI National Championship. It moved them to 2-0 in home games this season as they push towards the National Championships.
The Cardinals scored four tries by four different players on the day as they moved the ball around. Leading the way was Joseph Iye, who finished with one try, one penalty kick, and two conversion kick to finish with 12 points on the day. Panashe Mogorigidi,
Alex Nyamunda, and
Shadreck Mandaza each scoring tries on the day, finishing with five points.
Ayoub Jalli finished out the scoring, going 2-2 on conversion kicks and 1-1 on penalty kicks on the day. The Cardinals now advance to the NCR Quarterfinal round as they hit the road looking to bring home a National Title.
The Wheeling University Men's Rugby team returns to action on Saturday, November 23
rd, when they hit the road to face Notre Dame at the NCR Quarterfinals.
