Christendom Rugby Brings Home Conference Championship

Culpeper, VA - Christendom College captured the 2024 Cardinals Collegiate Rugby Conference Championship this past weekend, defeating Hampden-Sydney College, Washington & Lee University, and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) along their path to the title.

 

On Saturday, 11/9, the Crusaders faced off against Hampden-Sydney at 1:30pm and Washington & Lee at 3pm. Having beaten both teams during the regular season, expectations were high for the Crusaders on Saturday. In the first game, Christendom took down Hampden-Sydney 48-19. Later, they defeated Washington & Lee 48-14, which allowed them to advance to the championship on Sunday, 11/10 against VMI.

 

After losing to VMI in a close 33-32 match during the regular season, the Crusaders had their work cut out for them. VMI started off the scoring with a try and a conversion to gain a 7-0 lead. The Crusaders answered with a try by Jude Burkett (Senior/Emlenton, PA), but the conversion kick missed its mark, leaving VMI with a 7-5 advantage. The Crusaders strove to get ahead, but missed a penalty kick. However, they persevered and gained two tries: one by David Foeckler (Senior/Front Royal, VA) and the other by Mark Patryn (Freshman/Longmeadows, MA). Chris Santschi (Senior/Manassas, VA) scored conversions on both tries, putting the Crusaders in the lead 19-7. VMI fought back, scoring two tries but missing both conversion kicks. This brought their deficit to 19-17. Santschi scored a penalty kick, bringing the Crusader lead to 22-17 going into the half. The second half was low scoring for both sides. Santschi scored a penalty kick, adding three to the Crusader's lead. VMI answered with a penalty kick, but their efforts were too late. When the second half expired, the Crusaders secured the 2024 Cardinals Collegiate Rugby Conference Championship with a 25-20 victory.

 

Up Next: Crusader Rugby will play Susquehanna University at 3pm in Culpeper on Saturday, 11/16.