METAIRIE, La. -- Mate Kvirikashvili's (Kutaisi, Ga./Monroe Woodbury (N.Y.)) try early in golden point overtime lifted the Kutztown University men's rugby team over three-time defending national champion Lindenwood, 24-19, and into the Premier National Cup Final at the Collegiate Rugby Championship, Monday afternoon.
It was a hard-fought and drama-filled 14 minutes between two of sevens titans, though the drama didn't exactly unfold in the way the Golden Bears might have expected.
KU knew what it was up against. The Lions eliminated the Golden Bears from title contention in the 2019 semifinals and this collision course was inevitable between the East and Central Region No. 1 seeds.
The Maroon and Gold came in with a tournament-high 10 tries and wasted no time making that 11. Great ball movement off the opening kick led to
Logan Bachman (Kutztown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) taking possession a few steps shy of the halfway line and breaking through the Lindenwood defense just over 30 seconds in.
Thorne O'Connell (Johannesburg, South Africa/Jeppe) added the conversion for a blazing fast 7-0 lead.
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Christian Tanner (Crescent, Pa./Moon Area) came up with another possession for the Bears after Lindenwood threw it away, but Kutztown's advancement was halted just shy of the 22-meter line and the Lions responded. Kyle Leibenberg dove across the tryline in the third minute, but Lindenwood's conversion attempt from the right side missed and KU remained in front, 7-5.
Points were going to be at a premium with both teams putting forth tremendous defensive performances.
Lindenwood attacked off the kick following its first score, but a scrum deep in KU territory resulted in scrum half
Kekoa Kauwe (Orem, Utah/Pleasant Grove) taking possession for the Bears.
The Lions didn't make things easy as Kutztown tried to work the ball forward, but a penalty for not releasing a tackled player allowed O'Connell to boot it forward beyond the Lindenwood 22. With the first half horn having sounded, the Golden Bears were able able to seize momentum as Kvirikashvili off loaded to
Brock Stinson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado) for a try and a 12-5 halftime lead.
An early second half scrum off O'Connell's kick resulted in Kutztown earning possession and they made it count.
Cameron Thurtell (London, England) dummied a Lion defender and dotted it down between the sticks in the ninth minute. O'Connell once again converted and the Bears' lead was now 19-5.
An untimely and unfortunate yellow card to the Bears in the 11th minute put their championship aspirations in serious peril. Lindenwood immediately struck for a Shiven Dukhande try with the man advantage, the Lions knocked the conversion through and trimmed Kutztown's lead to 19-12.
The Lions reclaimed the kickoff and Evan Williams used a dummy to free himself all the way to the tryline. With another good conversion, the game was suddenly tied at 19 with under two minutes remaining and Kutztown still shorthanded.
The final moments of regulation were tense. Lindenwood got another possession, but the Bears returned to full strength and held, sending the game to golden point extra time --the tournament's first such game this weekend.
A deep kick out of bounds by Lindenwood to start overtime proved costly. Kutztown was set up with possession at the halfway line and advanced towards the tryline on strong advancements from Kauwe,
P.J. O'Reilly (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) and
Aidan Smith (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull). The ball eventually ended up in the hands of Kvirikashvili, who barreled his way into the left front corner of the in-goal area for the try that sent Kutztown to its first national title game since 2015.
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The Golden Bears will be appearing in their third CRC sevens national title game all-time later this afternoon at 5:30 p.m. EDT against Dartmouth. Kutztown reached the national championship game in 2014 and 2015, falling to Cal Berkley both times, but is still in search of its first crown.
The Big Green, No. 3 seed out of the West Region, defeated Iona, the No. 3 seed out of the Central Region, 33-10, in the other Premier National Cup semifinal. Monday afternoon's national championship game will be carried live on CBS Sports Network, which can be found locally on Xfinity/Comcast Channel 732, DirecTV 221, Dish Network 158, Service Electric Cable TV 176, Service Electric Cablevision 37 and Astound 421 (formerly RCN). The channel is also carried by streaming TV providers AT&T TV, Fubo TV, Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV.
RUN WITH THE BEARS!
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