Reading, PA. - The race for the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) National Championship sent the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team (6-3) to Penn State Berks in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Cardinals would battle Queens University of Charlotte for a chance to advance to next weekend's National Championship match and, despite a quick score early, Wheeling would fall to the Lions 33-22. The Cardinals had three tries scored by three different players as the Cardinals finished a historic 15's season for the program.
Over the first five minutes of play, the ball bounced around with both teams trying to gain possession on a cold night in Eastern Pennsylvania. In the fifth minute, the Cardinals set up a scrum from about 10 meters out and fed the ball to the outside. Panashe Mugorogodi continued his strong postseason play, taking the pitch and running around the outside. He crossed the try line and touched the ball down in the middle of the try zone, setting up an easy conversion kick for Shadreck Mandaza to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead. The Cardinal's defense held strong over the first 25 minutes of play, with Queen struggling to get past the midfield line. However, the Lions had been ranked near the top of NCR for a reason, and their offense began.
In the 26th minute, they would make a goal line push that got them their first points, and the conversion kick would tie the game at 7-7. It was the first of three straight tries for the Lions, who added tries and conversion kicks in both the 31st and 35th minutes to build a 21-7 advantage. As the first half clock was expiring, the Cardinals were looking to put one more offensive push together. They would draw a penalty from around 20 meters out and Mandaza would set up for the conversion kick right down the middle of the field. He would send the kick through and as the team entered the halftime break, the Cardinals were within 11 points at 21-10. Mugorogodi and Mandaza got the Cardinal's offense started and the Cardinals looked to keep it going into the second half.
Both defenses played strong early on, with neither team getting on the board for the first 16 minutes of the new half. However, Queens would break through in the 56th minute, scoring their fourth try of the day and the score was pushed to 28-10. The Cardinals had some work to do and they got started in the 64th minute, setting up a phase five meters away from the midfield line. Marvel Benza got the ball in his hands, and made a run to open things up, before pitching it to Aaron Juma who took it the rest of the way for the score. Mandaza's conversion kick made it a 28-17 game and the Cardinals now trailed by two scores. It would remain a two-score game over the next 12 minutes, but a Queens try in the 76th minute was the insurance they needed.
Wheeling put together one more push before things were all said and done in the 78th minute. Wheeling would set up a phase from 20 meters out and Alex Nyamunda used power running to get the ball down field. He broke though two different tackles and, despite being tripped up a few meters out, he was able to extend the ball into the try zone to get the Cardinals on the board. Joe Iye would attempt the conversion kick, and sailed it through the uprights to make it a 33-22 game. Wheeling had one more offensive opportunity in the final minute of play, but they couldn't find the zone again and ended up falling 33-22.
The leading scorer for the Cardinals was Shadreck Mandaza, who finished with seven points on the day. He finished 2-2 on conversion kicks and added the key penalty kick before halftime to round out his day. The three Cardinal tries were scored by three different players, with Panashe Mugorogodi, Alex Nyamunda, and Aaron Juma each scoring a try. Mugorogodi has now scored a try in every postseason game for the Cardinals, and Nyamunda extended his team lead with 12 tries on the season, totaling 60 points.
The Wheeling University Men's Rugby team now heads into the off-season as they look to continue to build on their success heading into 7's season.
