Oct 05, 2024
Anyone who watched both rugby matches Saturday at St. Bonaventure probably doesn’t have any fingernails left.
The St. Bonaventure men (2-1), ranked 4th in National Collegiate Rugby Division I, avenged their national title game loss last December with an 11-10 win over 6th-ranked Walsh University. But the victory wasn’t secured until Walsh missed wide left on a penalty kick on the final play of the game.
The SBU women (4-0), ranked 5th in NCR D-I, squandered a 12-0 halftime lead but rallied for a 17-15 win over 7th-ranked Walsh, which was on the doorstep of taking the lead with 2 minutes to play until a penalty turned the ball back to the Bonnies just outside the try zone.
“That was pretty awesome, a really gritty win,” said Danny Neighbour, coach of the SBU men, who lost to Notre Dame College in the 2023 national title game. (When Notre Dame closed in May, all their players transferred to Walsh.)
“We spent way too much time on defense, but what a defensive stand. They were inside our 22 a lot,” Neighbour said. “Obviously, we got a little lucky with the missed kick but that happens sometimes.”
Atoning for the title game loss was a driving force for his club, Neighbour said.
“You could tell just from watching that they weren’t going to give up without a fight,” he said. “The grit was there, the defense was there, the want to win was there.”
Eddie Nelson staked the Bonnies to a 5-0 lead 24 minutes into the game on a brilliant play, blocking a Walsh kick, scooping up the loose ball and racing 30 yards for a try.
Matheo Lorenzato, subbing for injured kicker Noah Edwards, gave the Bonnies an 8-5 lead on a penalty kick 15 minutes into the second half, and added the winning points on a PK with just under 4 minutes left.
After winning their first three games by a combined 318-0, women’s coach Meredith Pyke thought Walsh, which inherited more than a dozen players from Notre Dame’s national runner-up team last season, would be the toughest match her club had all season. She was right.
“That was very stressful, but I’m thankful we got this kind of adversity this early in the season,” Pyke said. “I’m so proud of how the girls responded (after we got down) and didn’t get frustrated. That second half was not ours but they did what they needed to do in the end.”
SBU jumped to a 5-0 lead on a bulldozing 10-yard run by Jillian Rea, and took a 12-0 lead with less than 2 minutes left in the half on a Kaylee Middaugh try and Elizabeth Lyons conversion.
Walsh, however, kicked it into another gear in the second half, dominating the first 28 minutes without ever giving up possession. But down 15-12, the Bonnies finally mounted an attack.
Jaylei Wagstaff scored to put SBU up 17-15 with 11 minutes to play — despite the Bonnies being down a player. Madison Moeller received a questionable yellow card for what looked like a clean tackle and had to sit for 10 minutes.
After the Walsh penalty near the goal line late in the game, the Bonnies managed to keep possession on a series of pick-and-pops before booting the ball out of bounds when they knew time had expired. (Rugby halves don’t end until there is a stoppage in play after time has expired.)
“I think we reverted to some old habits and got a little nervous because we had been outscoring teams 107-0 and now someone is testing us,” Pyke said. “But that was good for us to get put in that position. We needed the challenge.”
Both teams are off next weekend. The women play at Ohio State Oct. 19, while the men play at Army Oct. 18.
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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).