Christendom Rugby Ends 15s Season 6-3-1

Christendom Crusaders Rugby 15's had another successful season with a record of 6-3-1. In their first game of the season, the Crusaders were victorious 37-34 after a tough fight against their familiar rival the Franciscan University Barons in their annual Shield Match. With momentum from their season opener, the team was able to take the majority of their regular season games. In October, they closed out the regular season with a tie against top 20 D2 team UVA, who they would later take on in the playoffs. The Crusaders began their playoff journey in November, with a 15-8 win against William and Mary in the Cardinal Conference Tournament. They took on UVA for the second time in another Cardinal Conference Tournament game and made a comeback to win the game with a kick from Chris Santschi (Junior/ Manassas, VA) 23-20. Although the team fell to VMI 39-21 in the Cardinal Conference Tournament Championship, their season was not over. In mid-November, the team qualified for Regionals with an impressive victory 28-18 over Susquehanna. The Crusaders competed at Regionals on November 18^th but were unable to advance after falling in a tough game against Catholic University.

In this season, the team had many upperclassmen fill roles as leaders, as well as a number of impressive new players bringing skill and competitiveness to the game. Crusader's John Kennedy (Senior/ Mt. Vision, NY) led the team with 13 tries and 65 points. Following Kennedy, Hugh Wingate (Senior/ Madison, VA) and Andrew Krolick (Senior/ Tempe, AZ) finished the season with 7 and 5 tries. Santschi had an impressive season with 59 points, and he finished the season with a 68.18% accuracy on kicking conversions and 100% on penalty kicks. The team had a total of 287 points in the 2023 15s season. Christendom Crusader Rugby Team has a solid foundation moving forward into the upcoming 7s season.