ALFRED, NY -- The Alfred University men's rugby team clinched its first-ever Lake Effect Rugby Conference Championship 28-27 over Colgate on Friday night.
"The boys have been working towards this win since August," Head Coach Dale Russell said. "I'm very proud of them tonight. It was a tough match against a tough team. Looking forward to moving on to the national tournament."
It was AU's second straight year of making it to the conference championship, falling to SUNY Brockport last season. They avenged the loss with a back-and-forth battle right down to the wire on Saxon Hill. The Saxons finish undefeated in conference play at 7-0 and 8-1 overall.
The Saxons opened up the match with back-to-back scores from a Jack Murphy (Bicester, United Kingdom/Blessed George Napier Catholic Secondary School and Sixth Form) penalty kick, followed up by a fast-moving try from Ayomideji Israel-Akinbo (Makhanda, Eastern Cape, South Africa/St. Andrews College) and conversion from Murphy to extend the lead to 10.
Colgate responded with a try and penalty kick of their own to tie things up. But another Murphy penalty kick, and a try from Thomas Hann (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park and River Forest) just getting over the line into the try zone wrapped up the first half with the Saxons holding the advantage.
A strong defensive stand was in store for the second 40 minutes, but not before another try just getting over the line from Chevon Adriaans (Paramaribo, Suriname/SGS) was scored. AU and Colgate continued to battle in the midfield for much of the rest of the match.
However, two late tries from the Raiders gave them a 27-25 advantage with four minutes to play. But Alfred Univeristy did not quit, and was relentless in looking for the go-ahead score.
Sekou Camara (Conakry, Guinea) drew a third penalty kick for the Saxons in added time. It would be Murphy's kick in stoppage time to get through the uprights to give AU the lead back, and for good.
One more stop for the Saxons sealed the dramatic conference final win. It marks the first Lake Effect Rugby Conference championship title in program history, and the first time AU will have a play-in bid en route to the XVs Nationals Competition.
The Saxons will await their opponent in the Round of 32, with a time and date to be determined and announced at a later date.
-- Swords Forward Saxons --
