Life University Athletics

MARIETTA, Ga. --- The Life University men's rugby team played with toughness and took advantage of opportunities when they came, advancing to the next round of the USA Rugby D1A Playoffs with today's 26-13 victory over fifth-seeded Navy at Lupo Family Field.

The Midshipmen struck first in the contest, a well struck penalty kick giving them an early 3-0 lead. The Running Eagles responded well after finding their back against the wall defensively often early, Karch Hoffman racing down the boundary after a Navy turnover to give Life U a 5-3 advantage. Later in the first half of play, a brilliant series for Life U ended with a Philani Simamane try to push the edge to 12-3 after the Bradley Crane conversion was good. The attack started with Hoffman fielding a Navy exit kick and making a strong move to get to midfield. After Crane kicked a ball into touch, Sean Lenzsch bulldozed his way over a Midshipman and then offloaded to Simamane close to the goal line for the try. With time expiring in the half, Navy kicked through another penalty kick to send the teams into the break with a score of 12-6.

Over 10 minutes passed in the second half before either team scored, Navy again finding themselves with the lead early in the half, 13-12. The Running Eagles quickly answered, Julian Roberts scoring his first try of the season for the go-ahead score after identifying a lane and accelerating through the gap from nearly 15 meters out. Crane was good on the conversion to move the score to 19-13 Life U with 23 minutes left to play. Donovan Law gave the team ample breathing space with 10 minutes to play, racing down the nearside boundary untouched, leaving Navy players in the dust to boost the lead to 26-13. Navy had opportunities to score over the final 10 minutes, but Life U's defense held up, including turning the Midshipmen over on the try line to hold on for the 26-13 victory.

Head Coach Colton Cariaga was pleased with the defensive intensity shown by the squad, saying " "The men delivered on the defensive side of the ball when it counted. We will certainly build from that effort." He finished, saying, "Really pleased with the impact the subs brought. A mix of physicality and a positive rhythm to our attack. That's what we want from the bench and we will need that type of impact again." 

With the win the Running Eagles advance to next weekend's USA Rugby D1A Quarterfinals' match against East Division top seed Army. The game is scheduled for this coming Saturday, April 16th and will be played at Army.