Life University Wins D1 Title

Atlanta's Life University defeated hometown favorite Glendale in the Rugby Men's Club Division I National Championship on Sunday.

Glendale captain Mike Graham, a native of Bucks County, was unable to lead the team to victory like he had done in the playoffs and the semi-finals. In Glendale's semi-final match on Saturday against Pearl City, Glendale was down 15 to 0 at the half. Graham was able to pull the team to a final score of 23 to 22 in the last seconds of the game.

“We were so looking forward to playing Pearl City and our entire team absolutely pulled through," Graham told AmericanRugbyNews.com.

On Sunday, the final one-point difference was not in Glendale's favor. Life University had beaten top-seeded Olympic Club for a place in the Championship round. Glendale was the first to secure a try in a match that remained scoreless until the 34th minute. Life University answered in the second half by scoring 15 points. The final was 15 to 14.

“Glendale did a good job pressuring us. I am just happy to have walked away one point ahead," Life's player/coach Scott Lawrence told Scrum.com.

The D1 title marks the first in Life's 28-year history. The second-place finish for Glendale was also a milestone--the conclusion of their second full season and their best finish to date.

Also on Sunday, Chester County area's Brandywine lost to Red Mountain in the DII Championship round 41 to 18.

“We came out extremely aggressive and were able to maintain that level throughout,” Red Mountain Coach Kevin Torkelson told Scrum.com. “We have been in three USA Rugby National Championships now, and we know what to expect. I think that kind of experience helps in a number of ways...I have to give Brandywine credit, though, they really stayed after it the whole time and in both of our games this weekend - the score didn’t necessarily reflect the difficulty of our competition. "

The match was Brandywine's first appearance in a Divison II final.