Notre Dame College men's rugby has found success during their 7s season, this spring. The Falcons have played in four tournaments since March 23, coming home as a runner-up in two of them and winning the University of Dayton Kevin Hogan Memorial Tournament and the tournament at Kutztown University. Their impressive performances have guaranteed them a spot in the USA Rugby D1A College National Championship.

"The NDC Falcon Rugby coaching staff is very happy with how the players have played as a unit and have come together as a team" said Head Coach Jason Fox.

"The addition of assistant coach Luke Matthews has been a big asset in terms of practice structure and teaching the players that we can play much better as one unit instead of individuals, both on offense and defense."

To start the spring portion of the schedule, NDC knew they would be without Marcus Tupuola, who is playing with the USA Eagle 7s team, Cory Graham, one of the best 7s players on the men's circuit and Zack Forro, who just signed a Major League Rugby contract with the Washington D.C. Old Glory.

The run began with a trip to Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg, Virginia on March 23. The Falcons made it to the finals by winning their pool on point differential. They defeated Georgetown University, 32-10, and Salisbury University, 26-5, before losing a tight battle to James Madison University, 26-17. In the semifinals, NDC beat Kutztown University, who finished in third place in the 2018 USA Rugby College 7s National Championships, by a score of 28-26.

The Falcons were able to walk away with a runner-up finish, losing to the host, Mary Washington, on the last play of the championship game, 12-5.

"I think we played much better than UMW, however, we just could not capitalize when it mattered," said Fox. "It was a great first outing of the season with very little preparation, due to weather."

The NDC 7s team would head to the University of Dayton on April 6, to compete in the Kevin Hogan Memorial 7s Tournament. The Falcons would breeze through pool play with victories over Ohio State, 28-24, Miami University, 31-0 and host Dayton, 35-0. They would then take on the University of Louisville and win by a score of 28-7 in the semi-final. That would set up another match-up against Kutztown, in the final, where the Falcons would take advantage of every opportunity and win, 24-19.

"This was a big step for us, as a team, to be able to come back and win a tourney after a close loss in the previous one," Fox said. "You can see the confidence between players, and the chemistry on the field, building each game."

The following week had the Falcons' 7s team scheduled to compete at Ohio State. Notre Dame would be able to win their pool play with victories over Bowling Green State, 31-12 and the University of Michigan, 36-5. Then, the Falcons faced Indiana University in the quarterfinals, where NDC won, 17-7. In a battle with Western Michigan, Notre Dame won, 29-24, which allowed them to face Kutztown in the finals. The Falcons lost by a score of 28-14.

"The score was not indicative of the effort we put out, as direct mistakes led to three of the KU scores," Fox said.  "We looked to eliminate those mistakes in the next tourney."

After an off-week, NDC traveled to Kutztown on April 27, where they would need six victories to win the biggest trophy. Wins against the University of Maryland, 39-0, Kutztown's second team, 22-12 and University of Buffalo, 19-0, gave Notre Dame the top spot in their pool play. In the quarterfinal, Notre Dame took down Virginia Tech, 15-0. They would beat Kutztown 2, again, 22-17, in the semifinal game. The Falcons faced a familiar foe in Kutztown, in the finals.

The championship game would feature the Falcons leading 15-5 at halftime in front of a large crowd of KU alumni and supporters. Kutztown would battle back to take a 17-15 lead with just a few minutes remaining. NDC would get the last shot and took full advantage of it as they were able to win the restart and transfer the ball cross field until they were able to exploit a gap in the defense, winning on the last play of game, 24-17.

"It was a great win for the team and showed that we have what it takes to compete at the highest level," Fox mentioned.

"We have beaten eight of the teams that are going to the invitational Collegiate Rugby Championships in Philadelphia, this June, and ranked higher than another eight of the 24 teams invited," he continued. "We are excited to receive an at-large bid to the USA Rugby D1A College Championships."

The tournament at the University of Arizona will have the top 16 D1A teams in the nation competing for a National Championship. It will take place from May 24-26.

Notre Dame will travel to play Penn State University on May 11-12 to prepare for the National Championship.