GREENVILLE, S.C. -- This past weekend the Falcons traveled to Greenville, SC where they competed in USA's Fall Championship for D1AA. The Falcons of Notre Dame College faced off against the Falcons of Bowling Green State University on Sunday, December 4. The Falcons were hoping to head into finer weather conditions than the previous games as they headed south to warmer climate. However, the weather conditions were something North East Ohioans are all too familiar with; and that was a cold and rainy day.

The match started off as anyone would expect a Championship game to, and that was with both teams clashing in the middle of the field exchanging blow after blow. With Bowling Green trying their best to make ground, they eventually made it into Notre Dame's territory, but it was not long until the Falcons took the ball and went the other way. The first points of the match came shortly after a disruption was made by Notre Dame's Roneil Reynolds as he picked up a fumbled ball and returned it more than 50 meters for the Falcons first try of the match. It wasn't long after that when Notre Dame put in back to back tries by Cory Graham off a BGSU dropped pass and a kick through by Rodney Thomas that made it 10-0 and a great run by Cian Grendon of a great pass to put the NDC Falcons up 17-0. Shortly before half, Grendon dotted down his second and final try of the match as he ran a hard support line off of Graham. But this won't be the last time you hear Grendon's name.

In the second half of the match, two more tries came from the Falcons in blue as Charles Winn was set up by Rodney Thomas and freshman Andrew Guerra put one in near the corner off of forward play. Now, while mentioning the attacking scheme of the Falcons, let's not forget the important role defense played throughout the day. The defensive structure was led up front by forwards Spencer Duncan, Cian Grendon, and Cullen Barelka as they made almost every single one of their tackles. The front three played a dominant game as well while Alec Janotka disrupted the breakdown and Wale Williams supported every single ball transaction. Hooker John Santiago was key in the set pieces as he completed more than 90% of his throws in lineouts and stole a few of Bowling Green's scrums. The heart of the backline made it quite impossible for Bowling Green to break the advantage line as Zack Forro and Rodney Thomas were flying up, disallowing any ball movement.

USA rugby awarded the MVP of the match to Notre Dame's very own Marcus Tupuola and it was well deserved. Tupuola was a threat on attack every single time he had the ball in hand, and forget about trying to run around or through him defensively. With this win, the Falcons move to the National Championship held on May 6, 2017. At this time the destination and opponent are to be determined.
           
The men's program would like to send a large "Thank you," for the continued support and undivided attention the team has received throughout the year. The men have worked extremely hard to reach the National Championship for the second year in a row. However, they aren't done yet!
 
The final score of the Fall Championship was: NDC 39, BGSU 17