It wasn’t the most conventional way to win a national championship, but IUP did indeed take home the national title yesterday at the National Collegiate Rugby Men’s Division II National Championship tournament in New Orleans.
IUP won a controversial quarterfinal game on Sunday, beating UNC Wilmington. They thought they had lost the game in overtime, but a review of regulation time showed IUP had actually outscored the Seahawks, 21-19.
That set up the Crimson Hawks for two games yesterday. They squeezed by Northern Iowa, 29-26, in the semifinal, and in the final, IUP fell behind Lander, 7-0, but in the second half, 6-foot-7 IUP forward Colton Moyer led the Crimson Hawks to a 12-7 lead and they scored once more as time expired to win the championship, 17-7. Moyer was named the tournament MVP.
Sam Houston State won the Division I championship and New Mexico Tech won the Small College division. The top division, the Men’s Premier, was won by Kutztown, which beat Dartmouth in the title game.
Comments