South Bend, Ind. — The Aquinas College men's rugby team traveled down to South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday (Mar. 29) to compete in the Irish 7s Invitational hosted by Notre Dame. 

The Saints of Aquinas opened play against the opposing Saints of Thomas More. As the contest came to a finish, TMU left AQ wanting more. In the end, Aquinas struck their first win of the day 29-5. The following game saw AQ take on the Hoosiers of Indiana. This bout saw the Saints falter on decision-making and resulted in Indiana capitalizing. With time expiring, AQ had split its opening with a 19-7 loss.

Game three saw the Saints take on the tournament hosts, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Aquinas had key drives and better judgments but were struck out of luck as the Irish came up with the win 14-10. The fourth and final contest of the day for the Saints was against the familiar Marian Knights. This contest saw both tired and battered teams show true resilience. Aquinas marched back the Knights in a tightrope contest, evening their day of play to two and two, earning the win 19-17.

Coach Lance shared, "The team showed a lot of determination on the day, but our decision-making and skill execution at crucial moments were below the standard we expect. At the elite level we compete at, those lapses matter, and good teams will punish you for them. We have a few weeks between now and our next outing, and our focus will be on sharpening those areas and raising our standard".

Up Next

AQ will take the battle to the Big Rivers Rugby Conference on Saturday (Apr. 12) held at Marian in Indianapolis, Indiana.