Duluth Wins DII Title
Duluth Wins DII Title
The University of Minnesota-Duluth came back from a 14-5 deficit to win their second-straight Men’s DII college title, defeating Wisconsin Whitewater 24-14 Sunday at Furman University.
The Figthing Penguins, ranked #1 all fall long by Goff Rugby Report, weathered a difficult first half to overcome the Warhawks in the second half. Duluth scored an early try to take a 5-0 in the final, sending the ball wide to fullback Austin Haecherl, who raced over for the opening try.
But that try was a silver cloud with a dark lining, as Duluth mistakenly thought they could win the game attacking the Whitewater backs. This wasn’t the case. Whitewater came back using their forwards, running their big guys at full gallop onto flat passes from the rucks. It was something of a Duluth tactic, and it worked, leading to prop Brandon Lopez powering over to make it 7-5 Whitewater. At the midway point of the first half the Warhawks added to their total with a nifty inside ball from flyhalf Jack Healy to left wing Eric Drzewiecki, and he scampered in from 20 meters out.
Duluth then came back playing more oaf a Duluth game, working their forwards, and it almost paid off. The Penguins were over the line but lost the ball, leading to a 22 dropout for Whitewater. Quick thinking from Whitwater center Rob Sindic saw him thump the ball deep while Duluth was still backpedaling. That move pinned Duluth in their end for much of the remainder of the first half.
But the second half was very different. In the opening moments, Duluth No. 8 Jake Luetgers took a flat pass on the weak side, shoved away two defenders, and powered 80 meters for a try to make it 14-10.
Whitewater continued to press, and some nifty runs from fullback Eric Pachowitz, who had a very good weekend, got them close. But they couldn’t punch it in. After a long period inside the Duluth 22 a couple of mistakes - players a little too anxious in the face of a physical defense - they came away with nothing. It was an important turning point, as Duluth worked their way downfield, got a penalty, and scored thanks to a quick tap from center Logan Hanson, who dove in for the try. That put Duluth up 17-14, and seemed to shake the Whitewater faith. After that, the Warhawks tried to force the issue, offloading out of contact when they didn’t need to, and rushing ball out of the ruck, leading to a series of knock-ons.
One long run was stopped when the Whitewater player was dragged to his knees but popped up without releasing the ball - it was that sort of afternoon, as the Wisconsin players kept trying to score the winning try on a single movement.
Whitewater saw the game slipping away, and then it fell away completely as Duluth scored late through Luc Desroches to make it 24-14.
For Duluth, it was a case of to thine own self be true - when they were patient, and used their physicality to start the forward momentum, they scored. When they got away from that, they were in trouble.
Minnesota-Duluth 24
Tries: Haecherl, Luetgers, Hanson, Desroches
Convs: Bolstad 2
Wisconsi-Whitewater 14
Tries: Lopez, Drzewiecki
Convs: T. Grams 2
In the 3rd/4th game, Notre Dame College sped past James Madison 48-29. With fullback Marcus Tupuola earning man of the match honors, the Falcons were just too athletic and too deep for Madison.
