The Principia College rugby team traveled to Glendale, Colorado this past weekend to compete in the USA Rugby D2 7s National Championship Tournament, placing 5
th and earning them the title of Plate Champions.
Heading into the tournament, Principia was slated to compete against North Carolina State University, The University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and Montana State University in their pool play assignment.Â
Principia's opening game was against NC State at 3:00 pm (MT). In the first half, Principia played intelligent rugby, putting into action what they had learned this season. However, they struggled to put points onto the board until the very end of the first half, when the team was camped in NC State's 22 meter area. After two penalties, two line outs, and finally a scrum,
Zeya Kyaw made a blind side sprint to get across the line, and a run to the posts to make the kick easier.Â
Scott Marunde then made a successful kick to put Principia in the lead 7 – 0 at the half. After the half, NC State started to fight back and it was a back and forth battle until the end of the game. When time ran out, Principia was up 7-5, but NC State had possession of the ball and Principia ended up losing the game in dead time 10-7.
Despite the heartbreaking first loss, the team picked themselves up, mentally started fresh, and took on UNC Charlotte at 5:00 pm. The soon-to-be D2 Champions speed was too much and Charlotte got up 19 – 0 by 4:30 into the game.  Principia then started to apply pressure on Charlotte, forcing several turnovers, and allowing
George Agai to get a great run in after scooping up a loose ball, making it 7 – 19 at the half. Shortly into the second half Trevaughn Goodman had a great run around the outside, and the Thunder Chickens were down only 14 – 19, at 9:15 into the game. The game was very close all the way to the end where Charlotte's speed burned the team one more time putting the final score at 14 – 26.
The final game in pool play was against Montana State at 8:00 pm, who was making their first trip to Nationals. Going 0-2 in pool play so far, the Thunder Chickens settled down a bit and were able to play more freely during this game. Principia got ahead early, and kept the lead the entire game, despite some late pushes by Montana State capitalizing on penalties within Principia's 22 meter line. Principia won 19-14.
After going 1-2 in pool play, Principia had to wait and find out their fate for the next day. Out of 3 pools, the top 8 teams would go to the championship bracket and the bottom 4 would go to the consolation bracket. During their team dinner on Friday night, Principia found out that they finished ranked 7
th and would be heading into the championship bracket! The Thunder Chickens also found out that they would face UNC Charlotte again, and were excited for the opportunity to face their toughest opponent again.
The quarterfinal game against UNC Charlotte was neck and neck until the last two minutes, with both teams showing confidence and passion.Â
Scott Marunde had an early break through, but Charlotte's speed allowed them to catch him. Likewise, Charlotte's center had two strong runs, but Principia was able to contain him. Charlotte had a great sequence of running and passing, and scored the first try. The Thunder Chickens came right back with wonderful pressure defense which forced a dropped ball which
George Agai scooped up and scampered the 20 meters to give Principia their first try 7 – 7. The teams went into the half with the score tied at 7-7.
The score stayed tied until midway through the second half when Charlotte's center dribbled the ball along the sidelines and grounded it in the corner for their second score, but they missed the kick, bringing the score to 7 – 12. With two minutes remaining, Charlotte gained possession and after several phases increased their lead to 7 – 19. With less than a minute to go, Principia was on defense again, but made a hard tackle and forced the ball to come out. Unfortunately, Charlotte was able to pick the ball up before Principia, sprint into the in-goal for a final try and conversion, bringing the final score to 7 – 26.  Charlotte went on to with the Championship 38-10 over defending champions Wisconsin Whitewater.Â
After losing the quarterfinals, the men brushed off the loss and set to work on winning the Plate (5
th place) Championship. Principia was set to play Norwich University, a team they split games with last year and whom took 3
rd in the 15s National Championships in the fall. Norwich started with lots of energy and offense and were able to score first, but not convert their kick. Principia got on the board to open the second half when Trevaughn Goodman had a long 50 meter sprint to give Principia the lead at 7 – 5.  Right after that, Principia put a lot of pressure on Norwich's offense, leading
Scott Marunde to intercept a wild pass, which he ran under the posts to give Principia the 14 – 5 lead at 9:15 minutes into the game. Principia's defense got a bit sloppy and Norwich pushed a hard won try through to push the score to 14 – 12 with 90 seconds left to play. All game long, Nick Jacob's penalty kicks gave Principia strong field position. There were three outstanding attacking series but no points earned by either team, and Principia's win moved them to the Plate final.
The Plate game was against the University of Hartford, a team Principia lost to in pool play last year.  This was an exhilarating game that didn't see the first points on the board until 12:30, as both teams struggled with a ball wet from rain. One particularly heartbreaking moment came at the end of the first half, when the team passed wide to Trevaughn Goodman who looked like he had the chance for a breakaway run, but had the ball slip from his hands as he sprinted. The whole crowd seemed to feel the agony that the team felt when they knew they had missed their chance to get some points on the board. However, this did not slow down the Thunder Chickens and they just kept fighting. In the 12
th minute, Principia had a ruck about 20 meters from the goal line.Â
Nick Jacobs was set to pull the ball from the ruck when
Zeya Kyaw called for the switch and beat a flat-footed defender and crossed the goal line 2 feet from the sideline to go up 5-0. With only a 5-0 lead, the game was completely on edge right up until the last passed ball to the University of Hartford wing player which slipped out of bounds to end the game. The Principia players dropped to their knees out of exhaustion- mentally, physically and emotionally, as they let the excitement and relief wash over them, knowing they had won the Plate Championship.
Something to note about this year's national tournament was the parity between teams. Many of the games throughout the tournament could have gone either way. The pool that Principia started in on Friday ended up having the teams that finished ranked #1, #4 and #5- all good competitors!
One of the most remarkable aspects of this tournament was the comradery between the teams, coaches, and fine rivals. Every game was played in fine spirits between old and new friends; no matter if the team and coaches have known them for 20 years, or 20 minutes.
Head coach
Ward Patterson comments on the notable efforts of his assistant coach
Nick Johnson, "I want to give huge kudos to Nick for all that he did at nationals and throughout the season. I have incredible confidence in him and his ability to manage the players, make substitutions and manage their needs. His involvement in a leadership role has been crucial for us and we absolutely would not have been as successful without him this season, it is a tremendous privilege to have him around." Â
The team is deeply grateful to the many fans and families who came to support them. Principia clearly had the biggest fan club at every game, and the whole community enjoyed the top-notch performances by these Principia students.
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