ROLLA, MO – The Principia Rugby team competed in the Gateway Tournament this past weekend hosted by Missouri University of Science and Technology. The Thunder Chickens came in as the heavy favorites and ran away with their second-straight 15s conference championship to receive an automatic bid to the National Collegiate Rugby Division 2 Championships.
The tournament consisted of the top two teams from each division (East and West) in the Gateway conference. Principia and Washington University were the teams from the East, while the University of Central Missouri and Southern Nazarene University were the West representatives. Principia drew Southern Nazarene in the semifinals on Saturday and comfortably beat them by a final score of 62-13. On the other side of the draw, Central Missouri narrowly beat Wash U to set up a showdown with Principia in the final to be played on Sunday.
The final proved to be a one-sided affair with Principia dominating en route to a 80-5 victory. These two games were the Thunder Chickens' best two performances of the season as they were firing on all cylinders with a ton of focus and determination. They have fully bought in to everything they have been practicing and were clinical and accurate in all parts of their game. Furthermore, the team is almost 100% healthy heading into Nationals, which a big improvement from their outlook last fall.
Up Next: Principia will face the University of Northern Iowa in the first round of Nationals at 12:00 pm on November 18th at Emerson Fields in Forest Park. If they win, they will play in the quarterfinals on the same field at 12:00 pm on Sunday, November 20th. The Thunder Chickens will count on the community's support as they take on the nation's best Division 2 teams!
