Bonner Springs, KS. -- Principia traveled last weekend to Bonner Springs, KS to participate in the Gateway 7s conference tournament. Led by senior captains
Robby Butler and
Zeya Kyaw, Principia had a dominating defensive performance that allowed them to win all five of their games, win the championship, and earn an automatic bid to Nationals. Over the course of the five games, 13 different players participated, with nine scoring tries.
Despite Principia's first pool play game getting pushed back two hours to 11:50 am, the weather stayed in the 40s. Principia was able to go up 14-0 in the first several minutes of the game, and went on to defeat the University of Central Missouri 35-14. After defeating Southern Illinois University-Carbondale 33-5 and the University of Missouri Science & Technology 29-7, Principia earned a #1 seed in the semi-finals where they faced Saint Louis University.
Saint Louis University played a close game with strong defense and a creative offense, but Principia was able to hold a one try lead through most of the game before scoring a try at the very end of the game to win 19-7.
Snow was falling hard by the start of the championship game, as the temperature dropped to the low 30s and Principia faced Pittsburgh State University under the field lights. Both teams had several strong defensive stands near their respective goal lines under sustained attack phases from the opponent, but the snow, cold, and wind led to an excessive number of knocks during attacking phases. The lone try of the game came in the first half off of a scrum, when
Zeya Kyaw as scrum-half was able to pick up the won ball and run it into the in-goal. Final score: 5-0.
The
2018 College 7s DII National Championship will take place at Infinity Park in Glendale, CO on May 18
th and 19
th, and will be streamed at
TheRugbyChannel.tv.
