Men's Rugby Storms Past Penn State
Men's Rugby / 09.27.25
NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Life U 52, Penn State 14
Records: Life U, 2-0; Penn State, 0-1
MARIETTA, Ga. — The Life University men's rugby team ran away with the match taking down the Nittany Lions of Penn State on Lupo Family Field 52-14 on Saturday afternoon.
It was a battle in the early minutes of the contest as neither team could gain control. The Life U defense made a brilliant stand on the try line in the 12th minute, denying the visitors over and over again. Kade Cunningham nearly flipped the game on its head, breaking away and nearly scoring the opening try. The momentum eventually did swing in favor of the Running Eagles as Life U broke the stalemate with a Seth Kros try.
The Running Eagles then added to the lead in the 32nd minute, as Seth Kros again broke through for his second try of the contest.
Bautista Araujo added one final try in the first half, scoring in the 39th minute. Receiving the pass just inside midfield, Araujo ran through multiple arm tackles and stiff-armed one last defender before converting the try.
Life U took a 19-0 lead into the break with Jonty Lee going 2-3 on try conversion kicks.
The half time break did little to slow down the Running Eagles offenses as Christopher Cloete added a try just four minutes out of the break. After another successful conversion, the score line moved to 26-0.
Throughout the second half, Life U continued to pour it on. After a pair of passes following a scrum, Jordan Vassel sprinted through the Nittany Lions defense for the fifth try of the game.
Penn State returned the favor in the 54th minute with its first try in the contest.
Vassel added his second try of the contest in the 61st minute and James Rose added additional tries in the 76th & 79th minute.
PSU added an additional try in the 68th minute.
The contest concluded with a 52-14 win in favor of the Running Eagles.
"We are happy to get a big win under our belts, but we are also very aware that we need to improve our execution in certain facets of our game," said Head Coach Blake Bradford. "I am really proud of the effort from our boys today and we are making some really good progress towards the team that we want to be. It is always nice to welcome alumni back to campus, but it's not every day you do so with them as the coaches of the opposing team. You can see the influence that Zac and Justin have had on the Penn State team and I wouldn't be surprised if we see them in the playoffs in the spring."
TURNING POINT:
--Seth Kros scored both of the opening tries for the Running Eagles offense, sparking the momentum after an overall slow start.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
--Seth Kros & Jordan Vassel each posted a pair of tries in the contest.
--Jonty Lee went 5-6 on try conversion kicks.
--Joshua Spence went 1-2 on try conversion kicks.
