In the other semifinal, old rivals Gonzaga and St. Ignatius circled each other like boxers. It wasn't until past the midway point of the first half that anyone scored. Ignatius got themselves close and worked their close-quarters pattern. prop Sam Leopold finally capped it off with a try.
Gonzaga came right back, working some offloads and avoiding rucks. While Ignatius was having trouble getting quick ball, Gonzaga was getting the quickest ball of all. Prop Giuseppe Boglioni and center Cooper Lilly were especially difficult for St. Ignatius to defend.
Eventually, close to the line, flanker Colman Eager squirmed his way over. We were tied 7-7 and that's how the first half ended.
St. Ignatius kicked for the second half and Gonzaga was unable to handle it. From there the Wildcats camped out in the Gonzaga half. Ignatius had scoring chances and failed to convert, but they were able to keep the game in Gonzaga's end. The Eagles defended well, but eventually it all broke. A penalty led to a surge to the line and once again, Leopold powered through to score.
Levi Hoffman converted, and not long after he added a penalty goal to make it 17-7. Ignatius continued to threaten. Wing Connor Gallagher made his gains with his kicking, and while Gonzaga can kick, too, Gallagher's consisten ability to find distance and space helped Ignatius win the field position battle.
Ignatius kept working to test Gonzaga wide, and almost got through with Tommy Boker, Luke Votypka, and Gallagher, they never quite got their. Finally a quick catch-pass from loose forward Marcello Woodberry put Gallagher in at the corner.
That made it 22-7, and Ignatius was, seemingly, in control.
Gonzaga stormed back, and Eager eventually scored on a tap from a free kick. Eager was excellent throughout the match, but it wasn't enough, as Ignatius won 22-12.
Along with Eager, Gonzaga got excellent work from Boglione, flanker Sean Garayta, and flyhalf Andrew Casteleyn. But injuries to captain and scrumhalf Jimmy Ries, and Lilly at center didn't help, even if their replacements put in good showings.
For Ignatiius, they came in beat up, but did enough. Their forwards, with hooker Noah Spinos a big part of it, but Grayson Halkiadakis, and Tommy Cummings and Woodberry in the lineout, were massive. Leopold and Spinos were heroic.
Elsehwere in the school bracket, Greenwich put in an excellent defensive performance to beat Jesuit 22-7 and make the 5th-place final. Captian Dylan Stanton was monumental for the Cardinals at flanker as a defensive player and scoring a try, too. There they will take on Xavier, who won well over St. Edward thanks to two tries from flanker Riley McLaughlin.
