Men’s Division I
The Division I Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship was decided on Saturday between the undefeated Rocky Gorge and a talented Northern Virginia club that earned its way to the final in its first year back in DI. With almost ten players that will be playing the MLR next season on the pitch, Rocky Gorge came back from an early deficit to win its third DI title in four years by a score of 56-24.
Things couldn’t have begun better for NOVA as it raced out to a quick 14-0 lead with tries from Michael Medlej and Patrick Audino. Rocky Gorge awoke from its slumber and tacked on three tries from Josh Brown, Will Miller, and Nick Kuhl to one penalty kick to take the 21-17 advantage at the break.
In the second half, holes began to open up for Gorge and it saw longer breaks by their loose forwards. Scores from Dustin Meehan and Derrell Kittrell amounted to a two-try lead before Medlej brought the gap back to 11 points. After a late yellow card to NOVA, Tito Miranda, Ethan Reese, and Brown punched in three more for the final tally. In the end, Gorge had better fitness and attacked the breakdown to reclaim the MAC Championship.
“We gave up two tries and everybody got fired up after that,” Gorge captain Nick Kuhl said. “We’ve been here before, we stayed calm, and played our game. We came back to within three and after that, we played our ball, our scheme, and stayed true to it. We knew we would put points up eventually.”
“Gorge is a complete team,” NOVA coach Joe Tropea stated. “We played 20 minutes of rugby, they played 80… With all the players and everyone else around us, getting to the MAC Championship was a huge honor and now there is blood in the water. We got a taste of what we can do and we are hoping to come back next year and win this thing.”
Gorge will now play a crossover match against the Atlantic North/ARP champion on Saturday to determine who advances to the National Semifinals.
Men’s Division II
With the Division II MAC Championship on May 4th, the Capital Rugby Union (CRU) and Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (EPRU) held their finals on Saturday. When the dust settled, the Doylestown Dragons will defend their conference title against the Raleigh Vipers in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Raleigh reached the championship by defeating the Richmond Lions by a score of 47-17. The Vipers never let up and took a 21-10 lead at the break. Richmond scored to begin the second half but the Raleigh offense was too much in the end rushing in four times to close the game. Flanker Keiji Takayama shined for Raleigh with a hat trick and Jacob Milchuck totaled 19 points in the victory.
“We played an 80 minute game and they played a 60 minute game,” Raleigh coach Mark Hemingway said. “We lost our way a little bit in the middle which gave Richmond a chance to come back. Our defense wasn’t as strong as it should have been but once we figured that out, we hit the gas again in the last 20 and pulled away. Our offense was far superior than theirs.”
In the EPRU, Doylestown will be returning the Division II MAC Championship after a 57-14 dismantling of the Old Gaelic. The Dragons scored immediately inside two minutes to set the tone for the afternoon. Doylestown scored nine tries to its opponents’ two as Bruce Dolan, Max Compo, and Matt Frederick each dotted the ball down twice.
“It was a total team effort,” Doylestown coach Mike McCandless stated. “We stuck to our game plan. We had a windy day and I had some concerns the guys would try to change up the plan and play to the strength of the other team. We used our forwards and backs and tightened things up to accommodate the wind and stuck to the plan.”
Raleigh and Doylestown are familiar foes as this year’s championship will be a rematch of last season’s divisional semifinal.
“We lost to Doylestown last year by two tries ultimately,” Hemingway noted. “We will be coming in there with a lot of respect for those guys because we recognize they are a good team. We are going to have to be on our game for the rematch.”
McCandless echoed his adversary’s words. “Over the years, we’ve faced Raleigh many times and they are always tough. I know that they are going to be a formidable opponent… If I had to judge them from the past, they are going to come straight at us and we better be ready for it.”
Men’s Division III
A new MAC champion will be crowned in men’s Division III as best squads in the CRU and EPRU will clash in Pittsburgh on May 5th. The Northeast Philadelphia Irish completed its undefeated season in the EPRU by blasting Wilkes-Barre Scranton Breakers 51-5 while Rocky Gorge captured the Capital title on the road over Virginia Beach, 25-12.
For the last five years, the NE Irish has improved season by season culminating in an unblemished record this year and a huge 51-5 victory over the Breakers. The game wasn’t close as the Irish led 44-0 until the 67th minute when their opponent scored its lone try. Seven Irish players scored a total of nine tries to earn the EPRU championship.
“The game played out like we thought,” NE Irish coach Tim Morris said. “Wilkes did a great job of attacking our short side but we were able to make the tackles and force mistakes. As always, the most effective part of our game was shutting them down on defense. It was hard but good positioning worked in our favor.”
In a rematch of the 2016 divisional semifinal, Rocky Gorge beat the Virginia Beach Falcons on the road to win the Capital championship, 25-12. The Falcons scored first, but Gorge was awarded a penalty try soon after. Gorge extended the lead to 15-7 before a Virginia Beach try cut it to three points at halftime. In the second half, Gorge showed its strength with tries from Brandon Drummond and Khalid Epps and a shutout from its defense.
“It was a total team effort and a lot of lucky bounces,” Gorge captain Zaven Mnatzakanian said. “After a quick try at the beginning, everyone knew that wasn't what Gorge rugby is about. Everyone stuck together and the pack had a big impact in the second half winning almost every scrum.”
With the NE Irish automatically advancing to the National Quarterfinals because of the non-contiguous side rule, Sunday’s DIII MAC final is a matter of pride for the NE Irish and Rocky Gorge. The match will come down to who performs better on defense.
“Looking into Rocky Gorge, we are just keeping our game the same,” Morris said. “We will keep working our defense.” Mnatzakanian kept it short in anticipation of the final, “We are going to have to play a more complete game to win the championship.”
Women’s Division II and III
With the playoff semifinal pairings set for May 4th in Pittsburgh, the Norfolk Storm and Rappahannock made their final preparations before the postseason.
In the last regular season match of Division II, Chesapeake and Norfolk were locked in a tight game that came down to the final minutes. Chesapeake held a 12-10 lead late until Storm wing Shannon Hubbard scored the game-winner in the 75th minute. Norfolk enters the postseason battle tested and draws Harrisburg in the semifinals.
As the Capital #2 seed and taking on South Jersey in the Division III semifinals, Rappahannock used its game versus Frederick to work out the kinks. The result was a 12-try blowout with ten players scoring in the 78-24 win.
