METAIRIE, La. -- Tournament Most Valuable Player
Mate Kvirikashvili (Kutaisi, Ga./Monroe Woodbury (N.Y.)) registered his second game-winning try of the day with less than two minutes remaining as the Kutztown University men's rugby team capped off a dream spring sevens season with a 17-12 victory over Dartmouth in the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) Men's Premier National Cup Final to claim the first national championship in program history, Monday afternoon.
Conditions inside the Gold Mine On Airline stadium, home of Major League Rugby's New Orleans Gold, had been sweltering and muggy throughout the weekend as Kutztown steamrolled its way to the final by outscoring its four opponents a collective 157-31 and eliminated three-time defending champion Lindenwood, 24-19, in an overtime thriller in the semifinals.
Rain started to fall almost immediately after the opening whistle. Nothing like throwing a wrench into the biggest game of the year.
Kutztown handled it well, though, Kvirikashvili using a burst of speed along the near sideline, running through two tackles and touching down for a try in the second minute to give the Bears an early 5-0 lead.
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Dartmouth took possession off the restart, but working back on its own side, the Big Green threw the ball away. It was picked up by
Cameron Thurtell (London, England), who flipped it to
Logan Bachman (Kutztown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) as the Maroon and Gold moved it ever closer to the tryline. Bachman would dive in for the try in the fourth minute and
Thorne O'Connell (Johannesburg, South Africa/Jeppe) was true on the conversion as the Golden Bears extended their advantage to 12-0.
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Dartmouth was not going to go quietly with everything on the line, however. The Big Green, the No. 3 seed out of the West Region of the 32-team Men's Premier bracket, had already eliminated No. 2 seed Notre Dame College in the second round and top-seeded Indiana in the quarterfinals on their run to the title match.
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Jasper Green diced through the Golden Bears, going the length of the field for a Dartmouth try in the fifth minute. The conversion from Mike Weir was good pulling the Big Green within 12-7.
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Dartmouth forced a turnover deep in Kutztown territory soon after the restart and Jaime Chuidian was the recipient of a nice off load, finishing the try to knot the score at 12 as the teams went to the break.
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The second half proved to be an offensive struggle, each possession carrying more urgency than the last.
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Dartmouth gained possession first and worked inside Kutztown's 22 on a strong run from William Frohlich, Kvirikashvili's wonderful ankle tackle surely saving a try. The Big Green continued to attack, but a passing miscue was smothered by O'Connell.
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Kutztown's control of the ball was short-lived as Dartmouth took it back on a throw-in in the ninth minute.
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A penalty by Dartmouth and concurrent yellow card to try-scorer Chuidian put the ball back in Kutztown's hands as the game approached the 10-minute mark, but the Golden Bears couldn't capitalize.
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In fact, the man advantage was wiped out following a penalty just a minute later when the referee sent KU's
Kekoa Kauwe (Orem, Utah/Pleasant Grove) off for a yellow, resulting in an extended period of 6-on-6.
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During 6-on-6 play, Dartmouth turned it over,
Aidan Smith (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) quickly off loaded to Kvirikashvili and the uber-talented sophomore from Georgia took it the rest of the way, putting it down at the right side of the try zone to put Kutztown back in front 17-12 with less than two minutes to go.
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With both teams back at full strength, the Kutztown faithful had to hold their collective breaths as the Big Green looked to make one last rush to win or force overtime. The siren sounded, but Dartmouth was still on the move, heading towards the Kutztown 22-meter line. A Frohlich off load was ruled to have gone forward shortly thereafter as Kutztown's players realized their dream, some dropping to their knees to celebrate, others looking exhausted and in disbelief.
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Kutztown, a qualifier for the CRC sevens tournament every year since 2013 under head coach
Dr. Gregg A. Jones except 2020, when the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19, and 2021, when they didn't travel due to the pandemic, finally reached the top of the mountain after having been agonizingly close before as two-time national runners-up in 2014 and 2015.
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Kvirikashvili was named Men's Premier Division Tournament MVP after producing a tournament-best seven tries in four games, including the overtime winner earlier Monday against Lindenwood and the eventual winner against the Big Green in the title match. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Kauwe.
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In addition to its first title at CRCs, the Golden Bears top side ended the season on a 21-game winning streak and won five straight tournaments.
RUN WITH THE BEARS!
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