Wheeling, W. Va. - Last season, the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team (3-1, 1-1) had their run in the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) 15's National Playoffs cut short at the hands of Queens University of Charlotte. On Friday night, the two teams meet once again at Bishop Schmitt Field, this time as Atlantic Rugby Conference (ARC) rivals, with kick-off scheduled for 7 PM. The game will be nationally televised as part of NCR's Friday Night Light series, with the game being streamed on the NCR YouTube channel to be displayed to a national audience.
The Cardinals are coming off their bye week last week, as they last took the pitch two weeks ago against Walsh. It was the debut of ARC play at Bishop Schmitt Field and the first 40 minutes featured a back and forth between the two teams. Wheeling would be the first team on the board, scoring in the first five minutes of the game, but Walsh would answer with a 13-point swing that put them ahead 13-5. The Cardinals would hold strong over the final 10 minutes of the half, and a score right before the break sent the teams into halftime with Wheeling trailing 13-12. It was another Cavalier run that started the second half as they scored 13 more points to make it a 26-12 affair. The Cardinals would respond with the final 12 points of the match, but it wasn't enough as they fell 26-24, picking up their first ARC loss of the season.
As the offense looks to turn things around, they will look to their leader in senior Alex Nyamunda to do just that. He was one of four different Cardinals who scored a try in the effort against Walsh as he continued building on what has been a historic 15's season. He broke the career 15's try record sitting at 24 across his first three and a half seasons with the Cardinals. He continues to make a push at history in the remaining four matches of the season as he now has his sights set on the 15's single-season try record. He fell one shy of the mark of 12, held by former Cardinal Dante Walters in their first year as a varsity program in 2012. He currently sits at nine tries through the team's first four matches, and is averaging 2.25 tries per match. He looks to use his talents on the field to lead the Cardinals down the stretch and continue chasing history.
Another Cardinal continuing his offensive success was Panashe Mugorogodi, who finished with one try and upped his season total to seven. Mugorogodi has scored multiple tries in two of his three matches played this season. He scored a season high four tries in the Cardinal's first home match of the season and is just two tries off the pace of Nyamunda with seven this season. Another player who has flown under the radar for the Cardinals this season is junior wing Mychal Andrews. Andrews added his second try of the season against Walsh as he got the Cardinals on the board early. Andrews has only gotten across the try line twice for the Cardinals in 2025, but has been a complimentary piece for the Cardinal's group of wingers on the back line.
With Friday night lights coming to Bishop Schmitt Field, the Cardinals are looking to make an impact on the national stage. The two teams met in the NCR Semifinals last season as well as the Collegiate Rugby Championships (CRC) National 7's semifinals, with each team picking up a win. Both programs have established themselves as top programs in the NCR and now they are meeting in their first-ever ARC match-up. The Cardinals have played some of their best rugby at home over the last two seasons, where they have gone 8-1 across their past nine games. They look to continue that success on Friday night and showcase what Wheeling Men's Rugby can do on the national stage.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Royals are meeting for the fifth time in program history on Friday night, with Queens leading the all-time series at 3-1. It will be Queens second trip to Bishop Schmitt Field, where the Cardinals lost their previous match-up, and their lone win in the series came in the neutral site match-up at last year's CRC 7's. The two teams are meeting for the fourth time in program history in 15's season, with Queens winning each of the first three meetings.
The last 15's meeting between the two teams came back on December 7th, 2024, with Queens picking up a 33-22 win. Wheeling was led in the effort by Shadreck Mandaza, who finished 2-2 on conversions and added a penalty kick to score seven points on the day. Panashe Mugorogodi, Alex Nyamunda, and former Cardinal Aaron Juma would each get across the try line to round out the scoring on the day.
The Details
Kick-off for Friday night's game is scheduled for 7 PM inside Bishop Schmitt Field. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
