SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio - The Notre Dame College men's rugby team had a competitive season within their new and expanded Rugby East Conference (including the Chesapeake Conference).
The Falcons started off with a narrow 13-10 loss to St Bonaventure (2021 National Collegiate Rugby D1 Champions) after which they faced big competition in the form of Army and Navy. Although coming up short against both Army and Navy, NDC took the road to Pennsylvania to beat Kutztown with both the A-side and the B-side.
Shortly after, the Falcons were back at home, falling short to the number one seed, Queen University of Charlotte.
The Falcons bounced back, traveling to Emmitsburg to beat Mount Saint Mary's with both the A and the B side.
The NDC Falcons faced off against D1 runners up Penn State on the NDC senior day, in which they saw nine seniors graduating from the program.
In the early stages, discipline cost NDC their momentum, conceding seven penalties in 16 minutes and not finding touch on multiple occasions.
Head Coach,
Hanno van Vuuren stated the following, "the weather conditions were not ideal, but we made critical handling and kicking errors to keep Penn State in the game early on".
The Falcons went into the halftime trailing 8-6, with Lachlan McDonald converting two penalties.
In the second half Notre Dame started off with great runs by senior
Fadzai Mushonga marching 50 meters up the field. They converted this early pressure with a great pick up and break away by Freshmen
Marcus Jansen van Vuuren running in great solo try off the base of the scrum.
The pressure kept mounting as
Luke Duhigg stormed off from a kickoff, once again putting Penn State under pressure. The forwards had the advantage with the mauls the whole day driving Penn State back continuously. After a great maul by the forwards, Freshmen Lachlan McDonald used good footwork to beat the defender, making his way to the try line.
Notre Dame had a great last 15-minute effort to prevent Penn State from scoring, with the final score being 23-15 in the favor of the Falcons.
This is the first time in program history than Notre Dame College beat Penn state, NDC end their regular season 5-4 and their conference season 4-4. NDC Men's Rugby focus now shifts to spring 7's and qualifying for the 7s national championship.
