Tampa, Fla. - Heading into Saturday's Florida College Conference 7s Rugby Championship with a feeling of unfinished business after falling in the finals last fall, the St. Thomas Rugby Team allowed just one try over their three matches in Group Play before taking down the University of Central Florida in the Semifnals and Millenail Atlantic University in the Finals to earn a berth in the National Championship.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- GROUP PLAY - After allowing a successful try against host University of South Florida in a 26-7 victory, the Bobcats blanked the University of North Florida and University of Miami 34-0 and 45-0 to advance to the Semifinals.
- SEMIFINALS - Taking on the second-place team from the other group in Central Florida, STU's defense limited their opposition in a 41-5 triumph that moved the Bobcats back into the Finals for the second-consecutive season.Â
- FINALS - After racing out to a 24-0 halftime lead over MAU, the Bobcats fended off their oppositions comeback attempt to hold on for a 31-19 victory.
NOTEWORTHY:
- Jobe Knapton 1 try, Total 5 points
- Lei Schaaf 4 tries, Total 20 points
- Mathias Adamo 1 try, Total 5 points
- Matt Arteta 5 tries, Total 25 points
- Nokutenda Mukumba 2 tries, Total10 points
- Taonaishe Mapani 3 tries, Total 15 points
- Tshepang Matubatuba 1 try, Total 5 points
- Welton Charumbira 4 tries, 15 conversions, Total 50 points
- Owen Phillips 2 tries, Total 10 points
- Wiko Nuehoff 3 tries, 2 conversions, Total 19 points
- Romulo Sotomayor 2 tries, Total 10 points
COACH QUOTES:
"After we lost last year we knew we needed to step it up to another level", assistant coach Diego Loyola said. "Bringing in Coach Ronnie Suarez to consult in the build up to this tournament helped us massively. He has a huge knowledge of 7s at the national level and he made big difference in helping us bring home our first 7s State Championship. We are looking to add him to our coaching staff on a more permanent basis very soon. The boys put in a massive effort to bring this home and we are very happy with their performance after just 2 weeks of preparation."
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