Chicago, IL. – After a bye week in round one, the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team (4-1) took the pitch for the Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) semifinals on Friday Night. It was part of National Collegiate Rugby's (NCR) Friday Night Lights series and the Cardinals put on a show with a 52-13 victory. The offense continues to be the focal point for the Cardinal's success this season, with five different players scoring tries, as the Cardinals set up a battle with Thomas More for the BRRC Championship.

Both offenses had trouble moving the ball early, with a pair of Iowa Central Penalty Kicks being the only scores over the first 20 minutes of play. In the 20^th minute, the Cardinals would turn to their leader Aaron Juma and he dove headfirst under the posts for the first try, and a Shadreck Mandaza conversion kick made it w 7-6 Cardinal lead. The lead wasn't long lived as Iowa Central would add another Penalty Kick, this one from 50 yards out, and the Titrons were ahead 9-7. However, once the Cardinal's offense got started it was hard to stop and Simo Haddar started what was a big day on the next possession. He would create some room on the near side of the field and shook several Titron defenders to get into the try zone and Mandaza continued his perfection on conversion kicks to make it 14-9.

The other Cardinal to score multiple tries on the day was Alex Nyamunda, and he got his day started on the next drive. From about 10 meters out, Nyamunda picked up the ball and took it the rest of the way himself, diving across the try line. Mandaza's third conversion kick of the night made it 21-9 and Wheeling was out to their biggest lead yet. Wheeling would get on the board one more time before the half as Haddar once again had the ball. He caught the pass off the ruck and chipped the ball down field from 30 meters out. He used his speed to jump on the ball in the try zone and another Mandaza conversion made it 28-9. That would be the score as the team's headed into halftime, with the Cardinal defense not allowing a try over the first 40 minutes.

Wheeling's offense would continue it's strong play into the second half, scoring a try on the first possession, and adding on off a lineout on their second possession. Clarouly Meca caught the lineout and the Cardinals started their set piece. It would be Nyamunda who hit a burst of speed through the crowd and he dove across the try line. Mandaza's first missed conversion kick of the year came after the first score, but he redeemed himself and the Wheeling lead would go to 40-9. Iowa Central's try would come in the 70^th minute, as they cut the lead to 40-16, but the Cardinal tries kept on coming.  After kicking conversion kicks throughout the night, it was Mandaza that broke through the line, using his speed to dive across the try line for his first try of the night.

He kicked through the conversion kick and suddenly the Cardinals were staked to a 47-16 advantage with under 10 minutes to play. The final Cardinal try would be the first career postseason try for Chris Mathebula. He would receive the pitch on the outside and broke through a defender to get across the try line. It would bring the match to its final score of 52-23 and the Cardinals advanced to the BRRC Championship game for the second year in a row. With Thomas More beating Principia on the other side of the bracket, the Cardinals and Saints will meet in a rematch of the Cardinal's final regular season game.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was a pair of trey scorers in Simo Haddar and Alex Nyamunda. Both scored two tries on the night, finishing with 10 points each, with Nyamunda increasing his team-leading try number to seven on the season. Wheeling's kicking game was once again led by Shadreck Mandaza, who despite missing his first two conversion kicks of the year, finished 6-8 on the night and scored a try of his own to lead the team with 17 points in the contest. The Cardinals would also get tries from Aaron Juma and Chris Mathebula to round out the Cardinal's scoring. Wheeling will head to the BRRC Championship game for the second year in a row and is looking to bring home another title.

The Wheeling University Men's Rugby team returns to action on Saturday, November 9^th, when they compete against Thomas More in the BRRC Championship match.