Seven weeks after stunning Queens University on the final play of the match, St. Bonaventure almost did it again.

Down 23 points with just 25 minutes to play in the Atlantic Rugby Conference title game Friday night in Washington, D.C., the Bonnies nearly pulled off a miraculous rally, falling 26-22 when Mehdi Merah was held up by Queens defenders on the goal line on the final play of the match.

The loss means the Bonnies (4-1-1), ranked No. 1 in the latest NCR Division I poll, will have to host a play-in match Nov. 16 to reach the quarterfinals of the NCR national tournament. Their opponent won’t be determined until the end of play this weekend. Queens earned a bye to the quarterfinals.

The third-ranked Royals (4-1-1) jumped to the 26-3 halftime lead on the strength of several impressive mauls off lineouts that led to tries.

Only Noah Edwards’ short penalty kick at the 27-minute mark prevented a first-half shutout for the Bonnies, who were saddled with back-to-back yellow cards that left them a man down for 10 minutes at the end of the first half and 10 at the start of the second half.

Nothing seemed to be going right for SBU when a try early in the second half was wiped out by a questionable knock-on call. But Harry Healy’s try and Edwards’ conversion at the 54-minute mark gave the Bonnies life.

A yellow card on Queens just 2 minutes later further energized the Bonnies, who got within a score when Merah scored at the 65-minute mark and scored again with 7 minutes to go when he bulldozed in from 5 yards out.

“It was a phenomenal effort in the second half, but we just hurt ourselves too much with basic errors and penalties in the first half. We just dug ourselves too big of a hole,” said Coach Danny Neighbour. “But we’ll learn from it and come back stronger.”

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure is a community committed to transforming the lives of its students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a commitment to academic excellence and lifelong civic engagement. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #8 for value and #19 overall by U.S. News and World Report (2025).