The Louisville Cardinals rolled through the Mid-American Conference 7s championships Saturday, and have accepted a big to the National Collegiate Rugby May Madness 7s after the win.

Louisville went into the tournament as the 2nd seed having taken second at the Bearcat 7s and won the Kevin J Hogan Tournament hosted by Dayton. But they were chasing a very capable Western Michigan team that is coached by former USA Eagle Ata Malifa.

Louisville had started to show flashes in the MAC 15s season and while they are young—graduating only one senior after this season—they have skill.

In the first game of the tournament Louisville saw Ohio University open the scoring before turning it around and winning 26-10. The Cardinals then took on IUPUI, who had started well against Cincinnati. Louisville played speedy rugby and kept the ball moving and IUPUI had all sorts of trouble keeping up. Louisiville 32 IUPUI 0.

In the final pool game, Louisville pitched another shutout, taking the game 26-0. These two teas had played to overtime in the Hogan tournament, but last week while Louisville was off, Cincinnati played at the Tropical 7s.

This set up the top four. Western Michigan had been favored to beat Bowling Green in their pool but it was BGSU that played more error-free rugby and won the pool. So WMU faced Louisville in the semis. The Cardinals came out hard and played as fast as possible, hoping to outlast WMU in fitness. It worked, as they took a 26-5 lead into the final two minutes. WMU scored two late, but they were still nine points adrift 26-17.

Meanwhile, Bowling Green edged IUPUI in the other semi, setting up the final.

In the final, Bowling Green started strong, but after getting their first try Louisville started to roll. It was all coming together for the Cardinals and they ran in six tries to win 36-5.

The player of the tournament was Connor Hayes, who started every single game and was the highest try-scorer for the day. Sophomores Aaron Stevenson and Morgan Lafoon were critical in executing Louisville's attack, while Jake Summers and Cameron Donlon were excellent in the lineout.

Louisville will play in the NCR May Madness 7s May 28-30 in New Orleans.