MORGANTOWN, W.Va -- A 54-15 win over the Mountaineers in Morgantown this weekend took the Notre Dame College men's rugby team's record to 4-0 for the season, with the Falcons scoring at least 50 points in each contest thus far. The Falcons came off a great week of practice and were keen to atone for a relatively sub-par performance last week against Kentucky.
However, the Falcons had to do it without leading try-scorer
Cory Graham, who sat out this week with a minor injury. The victory over this weekend puts NDC in further contention to gain entry into the D1-AA National Tournament in the spring. The Falcons' second side also came out convincing winners with a score of 51-5 building on their first win last week.
The first side game began at a frantic, back-and-forth pace with long periods of defense for the Falcons.
Marcus Tupuola opened up the scoring with a brilliant solo effort as he zig-zagged through three would-be defenders. The Mountaineers would hit back soon after resumption of play after the Falcons could not scramble fast enough after a turnover.
This was turning out to be a tight contest as both sides put together a series of attack but to no avail. The deadlock finally broke when
Alec Janotka crashed over for a simple try after a tap penalty.
However, the floodgates would soon open as
Roneil Reynolds strolled over finishing off some great passing from Spencer Duncan and
Rodney Thomas. Tupuola also had his second try just before halftime.
Logan Weinstock kept the pressure on by kicking three penalties throughout the course of the game.
Cian Grendon had an outstanding game, topping the tackle count with 10 in only 55 minutes of play in his first ever start for the Falcons.
Khalid Williams also had a busy game, putting in the hard work in the rucks. Duncan and
Liam Tipton-Fletcher added a couple more tries before the final siren.
In the second side,
Martez Turner and
Charles Winn were outstanding as they continue to push for their place on the first side in the coming weeks.
The Falcons have a development game against the Cleveland Crusaders on Saturday, Sept. 26 before traveling to James Madison University to play the rival D1-AA opponents on Saturday, October 3.
