Edina defeated Eagan 22-17 to win the Minnesota Youth Rugby Boys HS title this past weekend.

After running through the season undefeated, Edina was the favorite here, but, as head coach Chris Babiash said, "you always hear the cliché that beating a team three times is a tough task."

And that's how it ended up.

"All the credit in the world to Eagan," said Babiash. "They had a great game plan and they took us out of ours. I think our kids really felt the pressure of playing for Edina and the expectation of winning. We let Eagan dictate the tempo of the game and they scored off of our mistakes in our own 22."

Eagan forced Edina into penalties and put pressure on from there. Babiash said that when his players played their system, they were effective.

"We failed to do that much of the game and really only hit our pace in small bunches," he said. "Knowing you are the top team and you were not challenged all year can lead to some difficult times and pressure when playing in a championship game, but the kids showed great resolve and got the job done."

No. 8 Rami Sabri was named player of the game for his hard running, tireless defense, and his scoring a key try.

Captains Ben Moss (prop), Weston Shively (flanker), and fullback John Deutsch all scored tries and showed strong leadership.

In a game where Edina was asked to play a lot of defense, centers Jack Robinson and Ian Stentz were enormously effective.

But overall, Babiash said this was a team win. "It's been a fun season," he said. "This team will go down as my most unselfish total team in my career."