It was yet again a Lindenwood University double, as both the Lions men and Lions women won the Cup Final at the Collegiate Rugby Championship Invitational (CRC) in Chester, PA this weekend.
Lindenwood's women's team was one of a dominant foursome of teams - as pegged by FloRugby, Lindenwood, Life, Penn State, and the NSCRO All-Stars were well ahead of the rest of the field.
Top Four And Then What For
In fact, those four teams, when not playing each other, went 16-0 scoring 666 points and giving up seven (NSCRO's opener against Notre Dame, which had a 15-7 scoreline, was the only non-shutout and only close game of the 16).
In the semis, Penn State took care of NSCRO 33-12. The Small College all-star team did take an early 7-0 lead, but tries from Gianna Solomon and Tess Feury put Penn State ahead, and Drina Roe, Feury, and Irene Koraplis cemented the victory.
Lindenwood needed everything they had to beat Life in the other semi. Carin De Freitas and Kodi Barlow traded tries with Spiff Sedrick of Life for a 10-7 Lions lead. De Freitas scored her second, converted by Annakaren Padraza for a 17-7 advantage before Life replied through Kaitlyn Broughton.
The game had plenty of time left at 17-14, and both teams had chances to score. Broughton tried to have the final word, and looked to be over with the game-winner, but was adjudged to have lost the ball forward, and that was the game.
That set up a final in which Barlow, Pedraza, and De Freitas ran in tries for a 21-7 halftime lead for Lindenwood. Penn State scored through Feury to close the gap, but the game was done by then. Lindenwood 21, Penn State 12.
Life beat NSCRO 22-14 to take third.
Notre Dame, the only team to even come close to the top four, took 5th 26-7 over Navy. Virginia Tech took 7th over Boston University.
Delaware beat Bloomsburg for the Challenge Final, which is 9th.
Lions Men Win Also
As for the men, the tournament was more competitive, but still resulted in a Lindenwood victory. There were a few surprises. Kutztown failed to make it to the Cup Quarterfinals, and ended up winning the Bowl over Air Force 27-12. Arizona, Iona, Dartmouth, UCLA, Lindenwood, Navy, Life, and Penn State were your top eight.
As with the women, Lindenwood took on Life in the semis. Nick Feakes scored two to stake Lindenwood to a 10-0 lead. Jamie Berrisford's try brought Life close, but Feakes did the deed once more to finish off the Running Eagles 17-7.
Meanwhile, UCLA, which has been relatively quiet in sevens this season, exploded for a dramatic quarterfinal win over Dartmouth - with the teams tied 28-28 Ben Broselle ran in for his fourth try to win it. The former HS All American had a huge weekend for the Bruins.
??ICYMI: Earlier we defeated @dartmouthrugby 33-28 BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH! A last minute come back from the Bruins secures a trip to the cup quarterfinals!
— UCLA Rugby (@UCLA_RUGBY) June 3, 2018
We will play PAC Conference rival, @arizonarugby, at 11:04 AM PST. The match can be viewed LIVE on ESPNNews #CRC7s pic.twitter.com/BihIqjTx1C
UCLA then pulled away from Arizona 26-10 after falling behind 10-0. Broselle scored two to put the Bruins ahead, and then John McKeon and Noah Hoffman finished it off.
That set up the final and the teams traded tries before Lindenwood punished a UCLA yellow card with Feakes going over.
Leading 14-7, Lindenwood pressed its advantage with Deion Mikesell and then Nick Taylor on an interception to win it all for the Lions.
This was the first CRC win for Lindenwood's men's team, with Feakes at the forefront. Broselle, we believe, broke the CRC record for tries in a tournament, which was 11, held by Dominic Mauer of Bowing Green and set back in 2011. Broselle was named MVP of the tournament.
Also showing well - Virginia Tech was perhaps the biggest surprise of the tournament, beating Arkansas State, Indiana, and Army on the way to the Plate.
NSCRO
The controversy that Iowa Central Community College deserved to be in the full CRC might have had more legs had ICCC won the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) title. The Tritons did not, as they fell 15-12 to Salve Regina in the semis before taking 3rd.
Claremont Colleges followed up the team's 15s NSCRO win with a 17-0 shutout of Salve to take the title. Susquehanna took 5th.
Freedom Cup
The eight-team tournament of smaller programs was won by Fordham.
West Chester took 2nd, Drexel 3rd, and Rowan 4th.