ST. CHARLES, MO – On a chilly, rain-soaked Saturday evening at Lindenwood's Hunter Stadium, the Principia Rugby team hosted their conference semifinal match against the Thomas More University Saints. The match pitted the last two Division II National Champions turned Division I conference rivals against each other for the first time ever in 15s. The Thunder Chickens prevailed 15-11 in a back-and-forth, defensive battle to move on to next weekend's conference championship in Chicago.
Despite the weather, Principia's line out continued its standout play on both attack and defense throughout the match.
Luigi Furlan and
Emmanuel Mazhuhwa dominated the airways while
Charles Luhanga did very well with the throwing the ball in wet conditions. Both of Principia's tries came in the first ten minutes of the match off of perfectly executed line outs as
Tobias Duque and
Emmanuel Atiko made beautiful runs breaking tackles into the try zone. In both cases, the Thunder Chickens were able to exploit a weakness in Thomas More's defensive system by attacking the space behind their line out.
The Saints were able to score a try of their own in between the two Principia tries, but after these early fireworks, neither team would score another try in the remainder of the match. Principia converted a penalty kick right before halftime to take a 15-5 lead into the break, while the only scoring in the second half was two penalty kicks by Thomas More. The Thunder Chickens' strong defensive play held the Saints off the goal line multiple times to preserve the lead. Loose forwards Luhanga,
Francisco Alessio, and
Dean Crouse proved what a formidable combination they are by working tirelessly on defense.
With Wheeling defeating Marian 39-30 in the other semifinal, the two top seeds from each division in the Big Rivers Conference will now face off this coming Saturday. The championship match will be at 4:00 pm CT at the Lions for Hope Sports Complex in Chicago (home of the Chicago Lions Rugby Club). Wheeling and Principia will be playing for more than just a conference title as the winner will also clinch a spot in the NCR Division I quarterfinals on November 18. The runner-up will not be eliminated though as they will get another chance to make the quarterfinals in a play-in match on November 11.
If you are unable to attend the Big Rivers Championship and wish to watch the live stream, you will need to download and sign up for the free Veo Live app (
instructions here) and then search for the Chicago Lions to find their streaming page.
