VANCOUVER – Trinity Western fell 32-31 to Guelph in Sunday's bronze medal match in the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championships at Thunderbird Stadium.
The Spartans were boosted by two tries from both
Ethan Jurgeneit (Bracebridge, Ont.) and
Lynden Duggan (Burnaby, B.C.), who earned player of the game honours at the event.
Matthew Willemse (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) chimed in with six points from the tee, converting on three of five TWU tries on the day.
AS IT HAPPENED
After a cagey opening few minutes, the game exploded into life with a series of tries and lead changes.
Guerschom Mukendi went over for an unconverted Guelph try in the 9th minute but their lead was to last less than two minutes as
Lynden Duggan picked up a kick and tore up the left wing to go over for the tying try. Willemse kicked the conversion to give the Spartans their first lead of the afternoon.
The Gryphons stormed back and Aidan Vachon went over the line from close in the 16th minute for Guelph's second try of the half. Kobe Faust made no mistake with the conversion then kicked a penalty five minutes later to make it a two score game.
Trinity Western got one of those scores back in the 24th minute when Jurgeneit took a short pass and drove over the line for a try, which Willemse converted, and that was how the teams went in at the half.
The Spartans came out strong to start the second and nearly broke through on a couple of occasions, but were thwarted by a resolute Gryphons defensive display. The B.C. side finally got their reward in the 36th minute when the ball came out to
Connor Bernardin on the left wing and he put on a burst of speed to go over for the go-ahead try, which Willemse was unable to convert.
Trinity Western weren't allowed to enjoy their lead for long as Guelph went back ahead four minutes later after quickly recycling the ball and getting it out to Brenden Black, who carried it over and touched down in the middle of the in-goal affording Faust the easy conversion for the Gryphons to go back ahead by three.
Three minutes later though and the Spartans were back in front after a nice passing move saw Duggan go over for his second try of the afternoon, which Willemse converted.
Guelph responded once again with Michael McCartney carrying over the try line. Faust's conversion attempt just missed to the outside of the right upright to give the Gryphons the narrowest of leads by a single point with 10 minutes left to play.
That lead increased to six points in the 55th minute with Owen Williams' unconverted try, setting up the thrilling conclusion of Jurgeneit's last ditch try and Willemse's missed conversion, to give the Gryphons the win by a solitary point.
Scoring Summary
GUELPH 32 TRINITY WESTERN 31
First Half
GUE - Try, Guerschom Mukendi (convert unsuccessful) 9' 5-0
TWU - Try,
Lynden Duggan (Matt Willemse convert) 11' 5-7
GUE - Try, Aidan Vachon (Kobe Faust convert) 16' 12-7
GUE - Penalty Convert, Kobe Faust 21' 15-7
TWU - Try,
Ethan Jurgeneit (Matt Willemse convert) 24' 15-14
Second Half
TWU - Try,
Connor Bernardin (convert unsuccessful) 36' 15-19
GUE - Try, Brenden Black (Kobe Faust convert) 40' 22-19
TWU - Try,
Lynden Duggan (Matt Willemse convert) 43' 22-26
GUE - Try, Michael McCartney (convert unsuccessful) 49' 27-26
GUE - Try, Owen Williams (convert unsuccessful) 55' 32-26
TWU - Try,
Ethan Jurgeneit (convert unsuccessful) 60' 32-31
1st Team Tournament All-Stars
Ethan Jurgeneit - TWU
Jacob Bossi - UBC
Conor O'Flaherty - UBC
Brad Hunger - McGill
Izzak Kelly - UBC
Taine Clague - Victoria
Dylan Digirolamo - Laurier
Relmu Wilson-Valdes - UBC
Jack Carson - UBC
Monty Weatherall - McGill
Brendon Black - Guelph
Alexander Armstrong - McGill
Takoda McMullin - UBC
Jonas Robinson - Victoria
Matt Willemse - TWU
2nd Team Tournament All-Stars
Joshua Tweed - UBC
Scott Bowers - TWU
Denver Fatt - Victoria
Hillyard Carson - UBC
Ayo Ogunlade - Victoria
Matthew Murphy - Memorial
Nate Schroeder - TWU
Cam Hurst - Guelph
Tony Pomroy - Memorial
Keegan Neary - Calgary
Kobe Faust - Guelph
Jacob Ince - Guelph
Ethan Berry - UBC
Lynden Duggan - TWU
Ethan Hager - Victoria
NOTABLE
• TWU earned its spot in the national semifinal with a 23-22 win over Victoria in the CUMRC quarter-finals before falling to McGill 17-11.
• This match marks TWU's first ever match against an Ontario opponent.
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
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