Notre Dame College men’s rugby started their season with a big win over Davenport University, 27-14, on Sunday afternoon after getting contributions from many different players.
Both teams were ranked in the top-25 in the first week of FloRugby’s DI Men College Rankings. Davenport was picked 21st while NDC was in the rankings as No. 10.
The Falcons were able to get two quick scores by Marcus Tupuola and Andrew Guerra which gave them a 12-0 lead. NDC would give up 14 straight points to Davenport prior to halftime but looked much better in the second half.
Notre Dame’s offense would go on to score 15 unanswered points after the break , while the defense did their job to shutout the Panthers in the second half.
Tupuola would score three times in the game, twice in the second half while Ro’Neil Reynolds was able to get past the tryline and score, as well.
Head coach Jason Fox understood what DU was doing well but was also happy with how his team competed.
“We needed to pressure them more on defense,” Fox said, via FloRugby. “Their kicking was phenomenal, and it was a very good, physical game. We’ve got some tough games coming up, but that’s why we wanted to play at this level.”
The Falcons will stay home and play Penn State University on September 16. The match is scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m.
