The University of Northern Colorado and University of the Pacific will face off for the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) Challenge Cup Final Sunday in Pittsburgh.
UNC defeated Washington & Lee 32-15 Saturday in the semifinal, while Pacific held off the Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne Mastadons 27-22.
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Univ. of the Pacific v IPFW
Pacific got on the board early against IPFW with a try from wing Sean Staley. Indiana replied with a long break from fullback Ian Muter - he was caught just before the line but stretched over to score and give his side a 7-5 lead.
Soon it was 12-5 when flanker Amenra Johnson gathered an overthrown lineout ball and ran in. But Pacific came back, scoring a nicely-taken try from flyhalf Mike Sitzmann, and then sending the ball through the hands to Staley for his second and a 15-12 lead.
Just before halftime, IPFW got another big break from Muter to re-take the lead 17-15.
In the second half, though, Pacific was able to fix some of its defensive issues, and scored two tries - a pick-and-jam from flanker Steve Whiteman, and a dummy and scamper from scrumhalf Justin Giardino after his pack had stolen a scrum put-in five meters out.
That put Pacific ahead 27-17, and while IPFW did eventually send their forwards over, Pacific’s long defensive stand at the end of the game made sure the comeback fell short.
Northern Colorado v Washington & Lee
In the first game of the day, UNC weathered a series of unforced handling errors that made for a sloppy beginning. But eventually the Bears solidified their possession and scored through scrumhalf Sam Murphy. The teams traded penalty kicks from Murphy and W&L scrumhalf Francisco Alimonda, and then UNC broke things open with an impressive long, weaving run from wing Lucian York. That made it 13-3 and UNC spent much of the rest of the first half pinning W&L in their own 22.
Washington & Lee came out on fire in the second half. Punishing some UNC penalties they spun it wide to fullback Matt Howell, who was upended by a tackler but still managed to touch down and make it 13-10 with Alimonda’s conversion.
UNC was on their heels but they turned the tables quickly. They worked their way into the W&L 22, lost the ball but got it back, and then worked the phases before a nice loop put over center Kameron Butler. Butler was a battering ram for UNC and his hard running got his squad into W&L territory, and certainly he deserved the try.
Murphy’s conversion was good and Northern Colorado led 20-10. UNC then put the hammer down. Receiving the restart, and Butler went right up the middle to score and make it 25-10.
W&L had a huge mountain to climb then, didn’t get a lot of ball as UNC kept up their attack. UNC’s punishing work started to make W&L players fall off tacklers, and No. 8 Skyler Spaur was only too happy to take advantage. That made it 32-10.
Washington & Lee got a try back with a run from Ratu Rokodulu, but that was it.
THe games were streamed live and can be seen again.
http://www.streampittsburgh.com/video/nscro/
