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Rugby Wins National Championship!
On Thursday, May 25th, Rugby embarked on another opportunity to win a National Championship, this time at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Indiana.
Gonzaga, which entered the tournament as the #1 overall seed, defeated Rye School 40-15 in the quarterfinals and Xavier (NY) 45-12 to advance to the title game. On Saturday, May 27 Gonzaga faced off against Jesuit High School (CA) and came away with a 36-18 win and its fifth national championship in the past 10 years. The game was hard fought, with the Eagles jumping out to a strong 19-6 lead at halftime behind trys from Kieran Downs '24, Connor McPhail '23, and Brody Johnson '24. Gonzaga opened the second half with strong play leading to another try from Johnson to extend the lead to 26-11. Joey Reis '23 capitalized on a turnover out off a ruck to scamper 40 yards for his lone try of the match to make it 31-11. After Jesuit's attack succeeded to cut the lead to 31-18, senior Burke Carroll sealed the win with his first try of the match.
"Going into the 2023 HS season it was clear to many that Gonzaga might have a pretty special group," writes Goff Rugby Report. Read the article that recaps the special season for this year's championship team here.
"What a journey this season has been - we started the season as the pre-season #1 which comes with lots of expectations and pressures, but the team embraced that challenge by playing the toughest schedule in the country," said Head Coach Peter Baggetta. "It is not easy to start and finish at number one, but the team leaders created and led a culture of passion, grit, selflessness and commitment to doing the little things right which allowed our team to play with freedom and joy to achieve their vision of being the most dominant team in the country. I am Incredibly proud of every member of the team!"
Here are some great photos of teammates celebrating their win:
Congratulations to Rugby on another amazing season! Go Eagles!
Back
Gonzaga, which entered the tournament as the #1 overall seed, defeated Rye School 40-15 in the quarterfinals and Xavier (NY) 45-12 to advance to the title game. On Saturday, May 27 Gonzaga faced off against Jesuit High School (CA) and came away with a 36-18 win and its fifth national championship in the past 10 years. The game was hard fought, with the Eagles jumping out to a strong 19-6 lead at halftime behind trys from Kieran Downs '24, Connor McPhail '23, and Brody Johnson '24. Gonzaga opened the second half with strong play leading to another try from Johnson to extend the lead to 26-11. Joey Reis '23 capitalized on a turnover out off a ruck to scamper 40 yards for his lone try of the match to make it 31-11. After Jesuit's attack succeeded to cut the lead to 31-18, senior Burke Carroll sealed the win with his first try of the match.
"Going into the 2023 HS season it was clear to many that Gonzaga might have a pretty special group," writes Goff Rugby Report. Read the article that recaps the special season for this year's championship team here.
"What a journey this season has been - we started the season as the pre-season #1 which comes with lots of expectations and pressures, but the team embraced that challenge by playing the toughest schedule in the country," said Head Coach Peter Baggetta. "It is not easy to start and finish at number one, but the team leaders created and led a culture of passion, grit, selflessness and commitment to doing the little things right which allowed our team to play with freedom and joy to achieve their vision of being the most dominant team in the country. I am Incredibly proud of every member of the team!"
Here are some great photos of teammates celebrating their win:
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Congratulations to Rugby on another amazing season! Go Eagles!
Celebrating 200 Years of Jesuit Education in the Nation's Capital
