PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Wayne State men’s rugby made a valiant comeback effort, but came up short Saturday in a 38-19 loss to Mira Costa College of California in the semifinals of the NSCRO Men’s Challenge Cup.
The Spartans scored about 15 minutes into the game to take an early 7-0 lead, but Wayne State answered less than five minutes later when Tylor Rowles took a pass on the left wing and raced 60 yards for a try to tie the game at 7-7.
Mira Costa scored again later in the half, then used a late Wayne State turnover to find the try zone and take a 21-7 halftime advantage.
Wayne State made things interesting early in the second half, as Hunter Boettcher spun off a missed tackle and ran 18 yards for a score to make it a 21-12 game.
Mira Cost answered with 24 minutes left to take a 28-12 lead, then scored again eight minutes later to take a commanding 33-12 advantage.
Wayne State had a glimmer of hope after Cole Eaton ran down a free kick in the try zone to make it 33-19 with 11 minutes to go, but the Spartans came back with another late score to put the game out of reach and advance to Sunday’s 12 p.m. final against John Carroll University of Ohio, who came back to defeat University of New Haven 29-26 in the other semifinal.
Wayne State will take on University of New Haven in the third-place game Sunday at 10 a.m.
