ST. LOUIS, MO – The Principia Rugby team traveled down to St. Louis on Saturday morning to face Washington University. Much improved from last year, Wash U came in ranked 21st in the NCR D2 coaches poll and undefeated in conference play this fall. The Bears proved to be a strong opponent who was able to test the Thunder Chickens.
Principia got on the score sheet early with tries from Celino Peterson and
Elvis Ajuoga. The next 20 minutes of the first half was a good battle as Wash U was able to get hold of the ball and use their big runners to test the Principia defense. Principia scored another three tries in the last ten minutes of the half to go up 25-0 at the break. These tries were scored by
Francisco Alessio,
Nick Ismirnioglou and
Mateo Ferreyra.
Wash U scored the first of their two tries early in the second half, and one more after 60 minutes of play. However, the second half belonged to
Damir Conci, scoring three tries in the period.
Francisco Alessio completed his own hat trick of tries late in the game to round off a strong performance from the Thunder Chickens. The match ended with a Principia 54-10 victory to stay perfect in conference matches this season.
Up Next: Principia will play their final regular season match this coming Saturday when they host Maryville University at 11:00 am. The Gateway conference playoffs will take place the following weekend (October 29-30) in Rolla, MO.
