Boyd, MD. – For the fourth year in a row, the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team made the trip to the Collegiate Rugby Championships (CRC) National 7's. However, this year, they had a target on their back, coming in as the defending National Champions. They showed the grit and determination that won them the title a season ago, winning all three games to advance to Saturday's semifinal round.
Game One: Wheeling 35, Babson 0
The Cardinals would get their run started with a first round matchup against #8 Babson College. It was a rematch of last season's semifinal match and the Cardinals got things started early on. After getting an early stop, the Cardinals would go on offense and Lawula Bata would send Shadreck Mandaza down the sidelines for the Cardinal's first try of the day. He would add the conversion kick and Wheeling was up early 7-0. After a Babson penalty awarded Wheeling the scrum, they were off and running again. Alex Nyamunda would break away from the defense and pitched it off to Panashe Mugorgodi, who finished the run. Mandaza hit his second conversion kick of the day and the Cardinals were out to a 14-0 lead. The Cardinals would get on the board one more time before the half as Mandaza got down the sidelines and completed the conversion kick to make it a 21-0 game.
With the offense showing explosiveness, the defense did it's part, holding Babson scoreless throughout the day. Michael Muleya would help get the offense going as he pitched the ball to Mugorogodi and he took it the rest of the way. Mandaza would hit his third conversion kick of the day and the Cardinals would end up taking a 28-0 lead. By this time, Head Coach Mike Geibel would go to his bench, making several subs to get their reserves some time on the field. Babson College would make one more push with their biggest offensive possession of the game, but the Cardinals got the stop. With seconds to go, Alex Nyamunda would streak down the middle of the field and got into the try zone one final time. Mandaza hit the final conversion kick and the Cardinals went on tj win 35-0.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was the speed duo of Shadreck Mandaza and Panashe Mugorgodi. Mandaza would be the Cardinal's leading scorer on the day, finishing with two tries and five conversion kicks to finish with 20 points on the day. Mugorgodi would get two tries in the effort to start his tournament, finishing with 10 points, while the final five points came from Alex Nyamunda. The Cardinals would advance to the round of 16, where the #5 seeded Mary Washington was waiting for them.
Game Two: Wheeling 31, Mary Washington 5
In game two of the day, the Cardinals would once again kick-off to start the game and got a big stop early. They would get the ball into the hands of Shadreck Mandaza on the next possession and he got it done getting down the sidelines and the Cardinals would take a 5-0 advantage. However, Mary Washington was ready to answer, however, and on the next possession they would get across the try line to tie the game at 5-5. On the final possession before the half, Mandaza looked like he was going to break away again, but this time pitched the ball off to Panashe Mugorogodi, who took the ball the rest of the way. A second missed conversion kick would send the Cardinals into halftime with a 10-5 lead as they looked to add on.
It would be the combination of Mandaza and Mugorgodi who helped the Cardinals break away. Mugorogodi would be the first one on the board as he took a pitch and went over 80 meters into the try zone. Mandaza would add the conversion kick and the Cardinals extended their lead to 17-5. Then, the score that sealed the deal came from Mandaza on the next possession. It looked as though Mandaza was slowing things down, but he took a studder step and burst through the Eagle defense for his second try of the day. He would hit his own conversion and the score would sit at 24-5 in favor of the Cardinals. Mary Washington had one more score in the bagp, with former Cardinal Aaron Juma getting into the try zone, but Mandaza would finish it off with his third try of the day and hit the conversion kick to make it a 31-10 final score.
Leading the way was Shadreck Mandaza, who scored three tries and added three more tries and three more conversion kicks to total 21 of his team's 31 points on the day. Panashe Mugorogodi would account for the final 10 points, scoring two tries and bringing his total for the day to four tries. The Cardinals were on to the quarterfinals where they battled the #2 seed Brown on their toughest test of the day.
Game Three: Wheeling 19, Brown 10
As the bracket moved on to the quarterfinal round, it was a battle of the #1 and #2 seeds as Wheeling faced off with Brown. The two teams played very different styles and both would get on the board early. The Cardinals would be the ones to strike first as Shadreck Mandaza kicked off to open the game and the Cardinals got their own kick. Mandaza would end up taking a pitch and dove through the middle of the uprights to touch down the first try of the game. He would hit the conversion and Wheeling held a 7-0 lead. However, Brown's ground and pound approach would get them across the try zone in the middle of the half and a missed conversion would make it a 7-5 game. It was a defensive first half and the Cardinals would hold their narrow 7-5 lead into the halftime break.
Brown came out strong in the second half, and crossed the try line for the second time on the day. They would miss their second conversion kick, but took their first lead of the day at 10-7. Their lead would not last long as on the ensuing kick-off Alex Nyamunda would get the kick and take it to the house He would be shoved out of bounds after the score and the Cardinals were ahead 12-10. Because of the push, the Cardinals got the ball back and Joe Iye would make them pay. He scored his first try of the effort, sliding into the try zone and Mandaza added the conversion to make it 19-10. Brown would make one final push for the lead, but the Cardinals pulled out the stop from the five-meter line to claim the 19-10 victory.
It was once again Shadreck Mandaza leading the way for the Cardinals, finishing with a try and two conversion kicks to total nine points. He would finish the day with six tries and totaled 29 points across the team's three matches. Alex Nyamunda and Joe Iye would each add five more points to round out the scoring.
The Wheeling University Men's Rugby team continues CRC National 7's play tomorrow when they take on Queens in the semifinals with kick-off at 3:55 PM.
