GRR on X  GRR on Facebook GRR in Instagram GRR Vimeo Library GRR on YouTube RuggaMatrix America Podcasts Support GRR on Patreon

Rutgers, St. Joe's to Keystone Final.

irish rugby tours

Rutgers, St. Joe's to Keystone Final.

It's Rutgers v St. Joe's for the Keystone Conference title as both teams won games Saturday.

Both teams had to work for it in today's semifinals. St. Joe's beat West Chester 44-22, but West Chester led early and it was 17-15 well into the game. But tries from Ryan Stickno and Greg McTiernan put the Hawks ahead by 14, and Noah Niumataiwalu and Jimmy Wolfer closed it out.

For Rutgers, ranked #40 by Goff Rugby Report, the semi against #44 Temple at Temple's home ground was a tough one. Temple scored early, but Rutgers replied with tries from Ethan Mabilog and Mike Nezgoda to take the lead. Temple replied and then started to pull away, leading 26-15 at halftime.

In the second half, Nezgoda slotted an early penalty, and then Peter Wargo powered through for a key score. Rutgers started to take control of the game, and when Mabilog set up Jake Whitaker for a try, they took the lead. Wing Nolan Soto made it 37-26, and while Temple got one more in, time was up and Rutgers had held on 37-33.

It should come as no surprise that Rutgers held on in the clutch. After all, they beat West Chester by a point and Temple by two earlier in the season. Temple, which upset Pitt in the quarterfinals, finished off a good league season in which they beat Villanova and Pitt, and lost three, but by an average of four points.

Rutgers faces St. Joe's on Sunday.