For the second straight year, the Salve Regina University Men's Rugby team will be making an appearance in the NSCRO National Final Four. Salve Regina, after winning the New England Rugby Football Union Division 3 title, traveled from Newport, Rhode Island to Springfield, Massachusetts for the NSCRO NorthEast Region Championship final against Met New York D3 Champion Molloy College from Rockville Center, NY on Nov. 19.

Playing on Springfield College's multi-purpose turf field, Salve kicked off to start the match. Molloy capitalized on a few Salve mistakes and took an early 13-0 lead. At half, Salve was able to narrow the score to 13-10.

The second half saw more of a back-and-forth as both teams traded scores. Salve was able to make a few key substitutions in the second half to give themselves a strategic advantage, and led 27-25 in the final minutes.

Molloy pressed, though, and got a penalty five meters from the Salve Regina line. They scored a try from that and the converged game Molloy a 32-27 lead.

But the game wasn't over and from a five-meter scrum, Salve's Ryan Shilalis went over to tie the game. Having touched down under the posts, Shilalis had no trouble kicking the conversion for the 34-32 victory and NSCRO's NorthEast Region Championship. The Salve team awarded senior Paul Schacter the 'man of the match' for his play at scrum-half and two tries of his own.

Salve will now face Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio (Allegheny RU and NSCRO Central Region Champion) in the NSCRO National Championship semifinal match on April 28 at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado.

Salve Regina University like Franciscan University embodies what small college rugby is all about. They have a full time undergraduate enrollment of about 600 men, while Franciscan is about 700 men.

For more information about the NSCRO, please go to our website at http://www.nscro.org