Grand Rapids, MI. – The 2024 15's Season officially opened for the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team (0-1, 0-0) on Saturday when they traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was a back and forth game throughout, coming down to the final minutes of play, but in the end the Cardinals would fall to the Panthers 43-42. The offense scored five tries by five different players on the day but it wasn't enough to squeak out their first win of the season.
Wheeling would be the first ones on the scoreboard as an early Davenport penalty set up Shadreck Mandaza for the first penalty kick of the year. He kicked it through the uprights and Wheeling would take a 3-0 lead. On the next possession, the Cardinals would once again put the ball back in Mandaza's hands and this time he found the try line for the first score of 15's season. He would convert the ensuing conversion kick and accounted for the first 10 points of the season for the Cardinals as they took a 10-0 lead. The Wheeling offense would just keep rolling in the first half as Marvel Benza would be next across the try zone, scoring his first try of the 15's season to make it 15-0. Mandaza was at it again with the Penalty Kick and Wheeling found themselves ahead 17-0 before 20 minutes had elapsed.
Mandaza was the story of the first half as he continued to take advantage of his opportunities. A pair of Davenport penalties would set him up with two more Penalty Kick opportunities in the half, and he kicked them both through to put Wheeling up 23-0. Of the 23 first half points for the Cardinals, Mandaza was responsible for 18 of them as he continued his strong showing from the spring 7's season. However, before the half was out, Davenport would get their offense going, scoring on back-to-back-back drives before the half. They added a pair of tries and the following conversion kicks and the teams headed into halftime with Wheeling leading 23-14.
However, the offensive outburst at the end of the first half was just the beginning as Davenport went on a hot streak. They would score 33 unanswered points, including three straight tries out of the half and took the lead 33-30. Wheeling would stop the run when Ayoub Jalli got across the try line for the first time this 15's season and put Wheeling back out in front 35-33. Mandaz came in for the conversion kick and once again sailed the ball through the uprights to make it a 37-33 Wheeling lead. The final minutes of play would feature back and forth action between the two teams as Davenport was awarded a penalty try to put them up once again 40-37.
The match would come down to the final two possessions, with Wheeling striking first. They would get the ball back and scored their fifth try of the day as Lawula Bata got across the try line to make it 42-40 in favor of the Cardinals. James Holland would then come in for the conversion kick and ended up missing the shot to keep it a two-point advantage. That missed conversion kick would end up making the difference as a Wheeling penalty on the final phase of the game set Davenport up for a penalty kick. They sailed it through and the game came to its final score of 43-42.
Leading the way for the Cardinals throughout the day was Shadrek Mandaza, who finished the day with a team-high 22 points in the match. Along with scoring his first try of the 15's season, he also went a perfect 3-3 on penalty kicks and a perfect 4-4 on conversion kicks on the day. The Cardinals also got four tries by four different players with Lawula Bata, Ayoub Jalli, Aaron Juma, and Marvel Benza all getting across the try line on the day.
The Wheeling University Rugby team returns to action on Friday, September 27th, when they honor their seniors on senior day, with kick-off at 4 PM.
