NEWS
Interested in sponsoring Northwestern Rugby or advertising on the website? Please email mzhang@u.northwestern.edu for details.
NORTHWESTERN MEN'S RUGBY EARNS FIRST EVER NATIONAL RANKING
On the strength of their fall season after an informative Big Ten Championships, Northwestern Rugby dominated league competition by going undefeated with an average score of 44 to 9. As a result, Northwestern made their first break into the top 25 national rankings coming in at 24th in the October 22nd poll of erugbynews.com and look to improve their standing in coming games.
NU travelled to DeKalb quite early on a freezing Saturday morning to take on the CARFU Championships seeking to regain the trophy after last year's runner-up finish. The semi-final match featured home club NIU vs NU with NIU scoring first at the 5 minute mark to take a 7-0 lead. NU countered with a James Walsh penalty 10 minutes in to bring the score to 7-3 but allowed NIU to score off phase play from the ensuing kickoff. Play settled in with tenacious tackling from the Wildcats defense, shutting down NIU's centers and eliminating threats from their speedy wings. Following a missed penalty by fullback, Walsh, an NIU turnover lead to a Rob Brown try and a magnificent (and crucial) Walsh conversion from the sidelines, rounding out the first half scoring. Halftime NIU 12-NU 10.
The second half saw both teams play inspired, tough rugby and featured several wheeled scrums that kept NIU from capitalizing on some NU mistakes. The score held at 12-10 up until the 28th minute, when NU was able to capitalize on an NIU penalty allowing Walsh to slot the deciding penalty to bring the score to 13-12. Walsh notched another 3 points one minute later, sealing NU's berth into the championships and a rematch with Northside rivals, Loyola. Final score 16-12.
Inspired, NU came out strong against Loyola. The 'Cats went into halftime with a 12-0 advantage off two Rob Brown tries, one set up off a magnificent run by freshman inside center Luke Lopatka. Second half saw a Marco Corrao try assisted by James Walsh on a kick return up the sideline and a late try by Loyola to finish the game at 17-5. Once again, tenacious defense from the Wildcats kept the Loyola attack at bay for most of the game, with the backs making punishing tackles behind the goal line and the forwards holding their own on several goal line stances. Next up: Midwest Playoffs at Platteville, Wisconsin. First round game vs. Wisconsin-Platteville at 1:30pm, Saturday October 31st.