The universities of Chicago and Vermont are both playing for their first national championships Sunday, after semifinal victories Friday at SaberCats Stadium in Houston, TX. Chicago advanced with a 42-26 win over Grand Valley State, and Vermont won a defensive battle with UNC-Wilmington, 22-11.
Grand Valley State and Chicago kicked off the semifinals with a nail-biter. Hot off a Great Lakes Conference Championship win, their fourth in a row, GVSU was hungry for a first natty, but star flyhalf Reinhart Stipp went down with an injury early into the second half .
Both teams put their all into a great first half, ending 21-20 in favor of the Lakers. Chicago scored tries via second row Will Hendricks, hooker Jose Alzugaray, center Caius Michlitsch and fly-half Will Johnson. Try scorers for the Lakers were second row Haydem Crum, second row Connor Orlando and eight man Aiden Reilly with two conversions by Stipp and one by prop Kairos Norman.
Unfortunately, the Lakers couldn’t keep up the momentum in the second half, with only one try from 14. Chicago dominated the second half with two tries from Reilly, center Nicholas Mushong and hooker Ethan Farber. Center Lucas Francis sealed the deal with a conversion, locking in the Maroons for the final.
The last match of the day sealed the deal for Vermont, moving them up to the division II final with a win over UNC-Wilmington.
Wilmington started the match with a penalty kick from 12 and a try from 5 for a short lived 8-0 lead. Vermont took the lead 17-8 to end the first half with 14 (twice) and 13 grounding the ball in the try zone, supported by a conversion from 10.
Both teams defended their try zones hard in the second half, with the first points of the half being scored in the 74th minute. Wilmington acquired a penalty kick by 12, but was followed by a try from 3 to end the match 22-11 in favor of Vermont. The Seahawks will kick off against Grand Valley State at 1:15 p.m. EST on Sunday for third place.
The Maroons are locked in with the Catamounts for a 3 p.m. EST kick off on Sunday. This will be the first championship match for both teams at nationals. To see who claims the win, tune in to tv.ncr.rugby for a great match.
