Wheeling, W. Va. - For the last two seasons, the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team (6-1) has made it to the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Quarterfinals and fell. On Saturday, they were able to flip the script as they headed to South Bend, Indiana to battle the University of Notre Dame. The Cardinals advanced to the NCR Semifinals for the first time in program history, with the offense leading the way in a 58-24 win over the Fighting Irish to keep their playoff hopes alive.
That Cardinal offense got going right from the get-go thanks to the legs of Shadreck Mandaza. The Cardinals set up a lineout deep in their own zone, with EJ Vidal finding Navin Couch and the Cardinals worked the ball to the outside. Mandaza would get the ball in his hand and ran over 50 meters to the try line. He would pitch the ball to Joe Iye, who finished the run, touching the ball down, and a missed conversion kick by Mandaza would give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead with 32 minutes remaining in the half. The Cardinal defense would hold strong over the first 19 minutes of the match, but in that 19th minute, Notre Dame would break through for their first try. The conversion kick would miss the mark and it was tied 5-5 with 21 minutes remaining before halftime.
It would remain a 5-5 game until the nine minute mark of the first half, as Wheeling set up a ruck 10-meters out. Michael Muleya would grab the ball out of the back of the ruck and did the rest working past the Fighting Irish defense and diving across the try line for the second score of the day. Ayoub Jalli would attempt the conversion kick and sailed it through the uprights to make it a 12-5 lead. The Cardinals would get in the try line one more time before the half, with the Cardinals receiving a kick as time expired. Aaron Juma would take the kick rushed the nearside of the field, used a stiff arm to get past the defense, and snuck into the try zone for the third try of the half. Jalli would once again attempt the conversion kick and it sailed wide as the Cardinals held a 17-5 lead. That would be the final play of the half and the Cardinals would go into the break with a 14 point lead.
Notre Dame would receive the second half kick and the Cardinals defense came through, forcing a turnover. Wheeling got the ball and once again worked to the outside of the pitch and Panashe Mugorogodi would score the try from one meter out. Jalli attempted his third conversion kick of the day from a wide angel, putting his second through the pipes as Wheeling took a 24-5 lead. Five minutes later, the Cardinals worked their way back into the try zone as Mugorogodi scored his second try of the half. With the kick set up right down the middle, James Holland would come in to attempt the kick from five meters out and Wheeling sent it through to take a 31-5 lead. That would be the try that broke things open as Wheeling took the ensuing kick-off to the house. Aaron Juma received and pitched to Mugorogodi, who now had three tries in four minutes and the missed conversion kick from Holland made it a 36-5 Cardinal advantage.
The Cardinals just kept scoring as Mugorogodi scored his fourth consecutive try, taking the next kick-off the distance and what was a 12-point Cardinal lead flipped to a 43-5 Cardinal advantage as Jalli sank the conversion kick. Notre Dame College would hit a run of their own, scoring back-to-back tries, making it a 41-19 game with 19 minutes to go. The Cardinals would break the run, setting up a lineout from 10-meters out and Aaron Juma got into the try zone to break the 14-point swing. Jalli, would tee up the conversion kick and nailed it as the Cardinals went up 48-19. Notre Dame added their third try of the half, before the Cardinals were back on the board with five minutes to play. Mugorogodi flipped to Mandaza, who used his legs to do the rest and it was once again a failed Jalli kick made it 53-24. The Cardinal's final try came with just seconds remaining in the game as Juma crossed the try line for the third time on the day, diving over the pile-on to bring the game to its final score of 58-24.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Panashe Mugorogodi, who continues his strong late-season push. Mugorogodi scored the first four tries of the second half, totaling 20 points on the night to set the new single match high in tries this season. The Cardinals had two other multi-try scorers on the day with Aaron Juma adding three tries (15 pts.) and Shadreck Mandaza adding two tries (10 pts.). Michael Muleya scored the final try, totaling five points on the day. Ayoub Jalli would lead the kicking game, finishing the day 4-7, while James Holland added a 1-2 mark to round out the day.
After breaking for Thanksgiving, the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team will return to action on Saturday, December 7th, when they take on Brown in the NCR Semifinals.
