The Georgetown Prep Hoyas traveled from their Maryland home to North Carolina to square off against the Charlotte Catholic Cougars in a match up of perennially ranked single-school rugby teams,

Their JV and Varsity matches were the opening to a full day of five matches held at the Charlotte Rugby Club. Catholic’s JV saw its first action of the year taking home a win while the Varsity notched its 3rd win in as many weeks.

For the varsity match, Georgetown Prep received the opening kick and Catholic applied solid pressure in the Hoya half of the field. Through a series of phases and possession changes over the first five minutes Georgetown was pinned near their tryline and forced to kick out. The Cougars took the lineout and moved the ball to fullback Matt Edel for a 30-meter run close. Catholic then went fast out to flanker Zach Hylton for a try in the corner for a 5-0 Catholic lead.

Catholic continued the attack getting a long run from center Jack Lowe from midfield to inside the Hoya 22. The Cougar forwards put together a string of power phases culminating in a hard 15 meters from Reid Brandt that forced Prep to commit defensive resources. Catholic then swung the ball wide for another corner try by wing Davis Barnett and a ten-point lead ten minutes in.

Georgetown fought back with steady phase work and pressure on the Cougar defense. They methodically worked the ball down to the tryline, testing Catholic with forward power. After a hold up in the try zone, Georgetown took the scrum restart and used a back row move to score near the posts. The conversion was good and it was 10-7.

Over the next ten minutes Catholic pushed the lead out to 32-7. Following that first Hoya try, Catholic pressured their restart and a lineout causing a fast turnover.  Flyhalf Greg O’Shields took the ball at the 22 and sliced through for another corner try. Brandt, at No. 8 took the Hoya restart 75 meters for a try. Jack Lowe got the conversion and soon after added three more from a penalty kick bringing the score to 22-7. O’Shields added Catholic’s fifth try with a brilliant open field run off a lineout (Lowe conversion). Georgetown applied late pressure but Catholic held them off at the try line to end the first half 32-7.

Georgetown opened the second half with strong pressure, attacking the Cougars and causing penalties and turnovers. That resulted in a quick tap try by the Hoya scrum-half making the score 32-12 in first 5 minutes. Over the next ten minutes the teams traded possession up and down the pitch with no points. That scoring drought was broken by a great midfield off-load from flanker Keaton Pagani to Brandt who broke through for the 6th Cougar try and a 39-12 lead. 

Over the final 20 minutes of the match the teams kept battling with substitutes working their way into the action. The Hoyas scored their final points of the day off a 5 meter lineout with a quick run by their flyhalf followed by a conversion. Catholic wrapped its scoring with another penalty kick and a final try on a long run by wing Tiger Takechi. With the conversion Catholic finished up the match 47-19 winners.