Men's Rugby Falls in Title Game to Siena College 20-25

12/14/2021 8:38:00 PM | By: John Schwarte

The Wildcats were down in Houston, TX, competing in the national final four in the National Collegiate Rugby Small College Challenger Cup division for the hopes to win the team's first national championship. After an impressive first outing against #18 Western Oregon University in the semifinals, the 'Cats ultimately fell in the championship game to Siena College (NY).

In the semifinal match which had heavy winds, with gusts upwards to 30 miles per hour, WSC showed its technical skills, taking care of the ball and keeping possession. The game was a physical match, but the Wildcats held tough and suffocated the Wolves, pressuring their offense and forcing turnovers consistently throughout the match. When WSC had the ball, they put on a show, slashing through WOU defense consistently throughout the game. Wayne State wins the semifinal contest 90-10.

Looking ahead to the championship match, the team knew they were going to have their work cut out for them. As the team watched film, there was a sense of nervousness throughout the room, Javier Luong said. At the end of the session, they came to the conclusion that if they would play their game and remain positive, they will be fine. While watching film, they noticed a trend of Siena's offensive play style and would use it to their advantage.

#17 Siena College has not given up a try all season long going into the championship match and averaged 70 points scored per game. The Wildcats have held their own all season long as well, only losing to Iowa Central Community College, a DI-AA powerhouse. Going through post season play, both teams easily managed their opponents, where WSC outscored them 213-29 and Siena went 275-0. Prior to the game, both sides knew this was going to be a showdown for the ages - and that is exactly what happened.

After a few battles on the tryline, WSC held on tight, but a penalty gave way to Siena, giving them the first score of the match, a 21-meter penalty kick and the Saints go up 3-0 during the 13th minute. In the 26th minute, WSC found themselves running a series of phases, making their way down field and an errant penalty call by the official went in favor of the Wildcats. Killian Burns, who had himself a nice weekend slotting kicks, received the call for the penalty kick. From about 30-meters out, Burns converts, tying up the match 3-3. A series of penalty kept taking Siena off their drives down the field, and their lock was sent off to the sin bin - a yellow card. Players who enter the sin bin must be out of the game for 10-minutes. In the final minutes of the first half, Siena capitalizes off of a Wildcat knock on and put the ball into the try zone. In the 40th minute, right before the half, Siena received another yellow card for a not being back ten after a penalty. Wayne State pushed the tempo deep into the opponent's territory to counter the late score from the Saints, but a turnover effectively ended their hopes and Siena kicked the ball out of the back of the try zone, ending the half. The Saints lead 8-3.

Siena College kicks off to start the second half and in the 43rd minute, Siena's lock who previous was in the sin bin received his second yellow for foul play and two yellow cards equal a red card, effectively ending his chance to play for the rest of the game and the Saints had to play a man down for the duration of the contest. In the 52nd minute, a nice line break by the Wildcats sent Nyashadzashe Munemo into the try zone, assisted by Thomas Butterworth. A conversion by Burns brought Wildcats out in front, leading for the first time in the contest 10-8. The lead didn't last long as the Saints capitalized by stealing the restart kick and immediately drove down the field and scored just four minutes after the Wildcat score. The errors at this point keep piling on as WSC's Riley Kraemer earns himself a trip to the sin bin for an illegal hit during the restart kickoff. Kraemer is lucky it was not a red card for the dangerous hit. Kraemer's yellow card evens out the playing field 14v14. In the 59th minute, the Saints dive into the try zone off of skip ball pass as their flanker finds the gap and puts the ball down for the score. Siena College leads Wayne State 20-10. The emotions are high at this point and a Saint's player cheap shots outside center, Brooklyn Chikaka out of bounds and out of the referee's sight. The problem was squashed as the official gave both team captains a warning since he did not see who started what, but the live stream caught it all. The game continues and both sides continue to play solid defense. In the 65th minute, Joe Dao intercepts the ball and sprints his way down to the tryline, traveling 60 meters and sparking the Wildcat come back. The conversion by Burns is good and WSC is down 17-20 with 13-minutes to play. The back and forth continues for about five minutes as both offenses are being held in check. WSC gained some ground in the 70th minute and they draw the penalty, 30-meters from the posts. The Wildcats elect to kick for posts in an attempt to tie the game and Burns, who has been excellent on the weekend, coverts the kick to knot it up at 20 with 8-minutes to play. In the 75th minute, WSC knocks the ball on in their own try zone and Siena falls on it for the go-ahead score. The 'Cats fought in the final minutes to no avail, losing 20-25 in the championship match.

A tough loss for the club's first trip to the national title game. Going into the match, they knew it would be a hard-hitting game. Siena took a lot of risks with skip balls and loved to ram their scrumhalf into the try zone when they neared the line. The WSC defense slowed the powerful offense to its lowest scoring contest of the year. Not only that, they were the only team to score a try against them. Dao, who scored off the 70-meter interception gave credit to his teammates for forcing the pressure to allow the Saints to make the errant pass which led to Dao's big play.

Burns, a freshman out of Drogheda, Ireland was one of the difference makers on the pitch all weekend long. His ability to slot conversions and penalty kicks made the difference in the title game. Burns, who was surprised by his father attending the final four, said that was the boost of confidence he needed and that his dad was able to ease the nerves out of him. Through all his training, Burns puts himself in situation that creates stress and makes him focus on the kick. "After training for years and calculating and analysis on my environments around me, I have been able to train and adapt to any situation and calculate my kicking angles regardless of any environmental situation." Burns was named to the All-American team. Other All-American recipients were Damir Gumerov, Grant Fleecs, Wallace Duplessis and Vuyo Mdlalose.

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