Indiana University of Pennsylvania will once again battle for the top spot in Division II after the Crimson Hawks outlasted an incredibly motivated Norwich side in a semifinal match for the ages. IUP will defend their 2023 title against a University of Northern Iowa team that made short work of a playoff dark horse in the Towson Tigers.
It was a back and forth affair between the UNI Panthers and Towson that brought with it a sheet of misty rain, visible only under the bright lights at SaberCats stadium in Houston. The rain also made its presence known in the number of knock-ons committed in the first half as both teams struggled to string phases together.
The Panthers finally broke the stalemate after five minutes of scoreless play. A scrum penalty called against Towson at their own five-meter line set UNI up with a tap-and-go opportunity from in close. A heroic defensive effort by the Tigers only prolonged the inevitable as the Panthers eventually strung the ball out wide to Elliot Sinnwell for the score. Dominance in the scrum would be a recurring theme throughout the contest for the Panthers as their physicality wore down their opponents.
Despite a valiant defensive effort – with UNI rebuffing Towson not once, but twice with their heels on their own try line – the Tigers finally scratched and clawed their way to a score. Another tap-and-go off a penalty from close proximity and quick hands through the backline allowed Towson fly-half Cam King to cross the whitewash and even the score up at 5.
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The Panthers thought they had a counterpunch ready as senior Austin Biocic appeared to bully his way over the tryline to retake the lead. But the ball had been potentially held up, and referee Shawn Bastic signalled for the first-ever TMO review in a men’s collegiate rugby contest and determined that the UNI loose forward had knocked the ball on before he could place it down.
Towson went on to score what was perhaps the try of the weekend as Zachary Uhler blocked a kick and won a 50-meter foot race to secure possession before being tackled just shy of the tryline. His teammates were quick in support and one pass was all it took for fullback Joseph Kinder to hit pay dirt. Uhler banked the conversion attempt off the far post and in to put Towson up 12-5.
At this point, UNI’s scrum superiority came into play. Two dominant efforts in defensive scrums earned them a penalty, from which yet another tap-and-go led to a score by inside center Jake Staack, who left a bevvy of broken tackles in his wake. This was the first of three straight scores that the Panthers reeled off to take a commanding lead into the lockerroom at the half. Nicholas Marker caught up to a beautiful grubber through Towson’s defensive line and benefitted from a favorable bounce, emphatically touching down a ball that sat up right before the endline. Scrumhalf David Randall broke through several tackle attempts on his way to another score to put UNI up by 12.
Towson came back out of the sheds with a renewed sense of purpose. Junior flyhalf Aidan Pason found plenty of open space in the Panthers defensive line and touched it down to bring his team back within one score after the conversion.
But UNI refused to allow the Tigers to steal back momentum, taking a tap and go penalty about 20 meters out all the way to the house to go up 31-19. A penalty kick and plenty more setpiece dominance kept the Panthers ahead before they put an exclamation point on their afternoon with their own contender for try of the weekend.
Randall took the ball out of a ruck just outside Towson’s tryline before uncorking a cheeky behind the back pass that fooled the Towson defense and allowed his teammate Marker to walk in for a score. UNI never looked back as they cruised down the stretch to secure their place in Sunday’s final.
Unstoppable force met immoveable object in the final game of day one as powerhouse programs Norwich University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania duked it out for the right to face UNI on Sunday in the DII final. Every inch of territory in this match was paid for with lowered shoulders and churning legs and no discount codes were redeemed.
It was all elementary for IUP outside center Dominic Holmes, who had two scores in both the first and second halves of the contest. His first was the first of the game and came after he broke through what had to that point been a stalwart Cadet defense. But Norwich answered in short order with construction management major Jeffrey Pappalardo putting the finishing touches on a beautifully constructed string of phases by the Cadets to tie the game at 5 apiece.
A battle of wills ensued with both teams playing physical and consistent defense for the majority of the half. Norwich threatened first with a series of probing carries inside the five meter line. They were eventually repelled by the IUP, however, who flipped the field on the Cadets and punched in the final points of the half with Holmes breaking through for his second score. Holmes very nearly scored what could have been a back-breaking try right before the half as he broke through a disorganized Norwich defense off a tap-and-go penalty and sprinted towards paydirt with visions of an opening-frame hat-trick dancing in his head. But a stellar defensive effort by sophomore winger John Kelly on a chasedown tackle forced Holmes to knock the ball on before he could touch it down and ended the half without further damage.
That missed opportunity would come back to haunt the Crimson Hawks as Holmes’ counterpart, outside center Marius Edwards, kept Norwich’s championship dreams alive and evened the score at ten with a breakaway of his own to start the second half. Norwich took their first lead of the day after a bruising run by big man Will Moulton, who refused to be denied from in close.
But IUP answered in short order as Holmes added to his legend with his third score of the night to knot things up at 15 with less than ten minutes on the clock.
It seemed that both teams knew the fans couldn’t get enough of this epic clash as they continued to answer the bell down the stretch, absorbing a series of body blows from their opponent but refusing to hit the mat, sending the match to overtime. Rain continued to swirl as the competitors readied themselves for a ten-minute sudden death period that would determine whose bumps and bruises would be healed by the salve of a semifinal win.
The back and forth battle spilled over into extra time as the teams went scoreless for the entirety of the first overtime. Not until the seventh minute of the second overtime period did Holmes cement his place in IUP legend by scoring his fourth and final try of the contest. The junior’s super hat-trick will allow the Crimson Hawks a shot at back-to-back national titles after securing the first in program history in 2023.
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