Winona, MN. -- Principia traveled to Winona, MN for Fool's Fest, an eight team 7s tournament featuring three of last year's top five DII 7s teams (University of Minnesota-Duluth (#1), University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (#3) and Principia College (#5)). Principia's pool included Duluth, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Pool 2 included North Dakota State University, University of Northern Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse, and Whitewater.
In their first match of the day, Principia opened up a 19-0 lead against Platteville in the first half, winning possession on kickoffs and keeping it. The first try was scored by captain Jaime Serna, picking up a loose ball; Nika Magradze took a long run along the edge of the field, chip kicked the ball towards the middle to beat the wing, and tackled the Plateville sweeper who retrieved the ball, allowing Jaime to take a five meter run to score Nik Hathaway also contributed two tries, with Scotty Marunde making two of the three conversions. Principia made three more tries in the second half, followed by Platteville breaking two tackles and having an excellent run up the middle of the field making the final try of the game. Principia 36 –  UW Platteville 5.
Principia had a tough match in their second draw, with Milwaukee employing an aggressive 7s style blitz defense that put pressure on the ball carrier and cut off his passing options. Principia secured their opponent's kickoff and scored on their first possession after a run by Scotty, but fell behind 7-14 at the half, unable to make much ground on offense. Milwaukee scored to open the second half, giving them a 7-19 lead. Principia's offense finally found their pace, aided by penalties against Milwaukee for high tackles, and scored two in a row, the second coming with only 15 seconds left in the game. After a missed conversion, they were down by two points. To have any chance of winning, Principia needed to win its own kick off and after a great kick by Scotty, Robert McAloney did just that by jumping above a Milwaukee player and knocking the ball back towards Principia possession. Going three minutes into dead play, worked desperately but patiently to not only score, but to not give over position of the ball or concede any penalties as either of those would give Milwaukee the victory. What would have bean a game ending interception by Milwaukee was overruled due to the Milwaukee player starting from an offsides possession, giving Principia a penalty in their favor.  Principia worked the ball wide quickly getting it into the hands of Nika, who ran over the first defender in his path, then dancing around the next two, before scoring the game winning try. Principia 22 – UW Milwaukee 19
In their final pool match, Principia opened up a 7-0 lead against Duluth, last year's national DII champion. Like their previous match, they fell behind 7-14 at the half, and after trading two tries apiece with Duluth, they were down by five at the end. Principia 19 – UMN Duluth 24.
As the number #2 seed out of Pool 1, Principia faced Northern Iowa, the number #1 seed from Pool 2, while in the other semifinal game Duluth and Whitewater faced off. Principia fell behind in the first half 5-12, but calmed down for the second half. As the Principia offense found its rhythm they picked up the pace, strategically using their subs with speed in mind to exhaust UNI who was forced to play defense for almost the entire second half. Principia scored four tries to win. Principia 29 – UNI 17.
In the championship match, Principia faced Duluth again, who had defeated Whitewater. Gaining possession off the opening kickoff, Nika immediately threatened the Duluth defense, causing them to commit a desperate penalty. A quick tap and quick distribution gained yardage for Principia until Zeya Kyaw was able to dive from a yard out to score the first try. Heavy defensive pressure on the next kick off led to Principia regaining possession. Thanks to the hard work of Robby Butler and Robert, Principia was able to secure ball possession, leading Niklas Hathaway to score a second try and giving Principia a 10 point lead.  After trading tries, the half ended with Principia up 15-5. Principia's conditioning paid off in the second half, as they were able to apply relentless pressure on Duluth, forcing them to commit mistakes giving Principia the ball most of second half. As Principia began to push the pace of the game, Duluth began to play a blitz style defense in hopes that this would slow the Principia pace. Principia responded by subbing in Conrad Heath, who responded well to the physical game, rupturing in the middle often, allowing Principia to maintain its pace. However Duluth wasn't done and on the next kick off, Duluth ruptured at the edge of the field moving into Principia territory before being taken down by Jaime. Unfortunately for Principia, a penalty by Jaime gave Duluth the scum, and the Duluth captain was able to rupture through Principia's defense on the put-in. A diving tackle by Conrad wasn't enough, and the Duluth captain offloaded to an incoming player who scored for Duluth. On the next kick off Principia secured the ball and moved it into the hands of Niklas who's tenacity allowed for a 60 meter rupture. Within Duluth territory, Principia moved the ball into the hands of Conrad, who after rupturing through the defense was able to offload and then receive the ball again to score. With one final kick off Principia maintained ball procession. A Duluth penalty allowed Principia to score one last time. Principia 34 – UMN Duluth 12.
Principia will know soon the decision of the competition committee on whether or not this win will count as an automatic bid to Nationals which will be in Denver, CO this year on the 19th- 21st of May- stay tuned for more information! Â
