ST. LOUIS, MO – The Principia Thunder Chickens played in the National Round of 16 at Forest Park on Friday, November 19th, against rival and excellent program University of Minnesota-Duluth. Both teams came into the game missing several starters.
Duluth started the game with the strong wind and bright sun at their backs, but it was Principia that opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a try by fullback Kudzai Chiwara and a conversion by Damir Conci. Just four minutes later, Duluth responded to make the score 7-7. Dominance in both scrum and lineouts allowed Principia to score the next two tries (Fernando Mendez-Estrella and Kudzai Chiwara) before Duluth responded with three tries of their own against a passive Principia defense, giving them a 26-19 lead going into the half. In the second half, Duluth kept up the pressure of attacking outside the defensive ruck posts, with Principia attacking through kick and chase. Both teams found success, scoring three tries apiece (Sjaen Lucas, Nick Ismirnioglou, and Brian Malambwe for Principia), bringing the final score to 43-34 in favor of Duluth.
Principia returned to Forest Park the next morning to play in the consolation game against a very good Marquette University squad. The consolation game is important because it helps determine conference seedings for the 2022 Collegiate Rugby Championship.
Both teams came into the game with depleted rosters and players needing to play in unfamiliar positions. Principia's team had a relaxed attitude and seemed to have much better mental preparation for the game. This showed in play and Principia got onto the scoreboard with a try in the 2nd minute with a run by scrumhalf and captain Sjaen Lucas. Center Bradley Mayekiso, returned from a red card suspension, poured out three tries in a row by attacking through the center. Several penalties hurt Principia, but the Thunnder Chickens were able to win the ball in several defensive lineouts. Principia's scrum had to be scrambled to account for injuries, but was able to put the pressure on Marquette's forwards. Damir Conci, Bradley Mayekiso, and Jay Clifford each had a try later in the game, with Marquette University scoring one in the last minute of the game after an aggressive attack from an awarded penalty inside Principia's 22 meter line. The final score was 43-5. Both games were captained by freshman scrumhalf Sjaen Lucas and senior prop Alex Parrish.
Despite coming up short in the National Championship Tournament, the Thunder Chickens had a very exciting fall 15s season, highlighted by their dominating conference play and Gateway Championship. The future of Principia rugby is very bright, as this is still a young team who will learn from all these experiences - both good and bad. The Thunder Chickens will look to find continued success with 7s in the spring!
