NCR NATIONAL SEMIFINALS: No. 3 Cal Poly Humboldt Tops No. 5 Endicott, 41-28

HOUSTON, Texas — The No. 5 nationally ranked Endicott men's rugby team fell to No. 3 Cal Poly Humboldt, 41-28, in the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Small College National Semifinals on Friday afternoon at AVEVA Stadium.

Jonathan Taylor (Chicago, Ill.) paced the offense with a pair of tries (28:00, 33:14).

Patrick Brennan (Newington, Conn.) and Luke Piotte (Stow, Mass.) also found the try zone in the loss.

Meanwhile, Graham Lynch (Windsor, Conn.) buried three conversions to round out the list of individual highlights.

The Gulls erased an early 19-0 deficit in the first half behind three straight tries from Taylor (twice) and Brennan (all conversions by Lynch) to jump out to a 21-19 advantage.

Cal Poly Humboldt eventually answered with a try of its own before the end of the half to reclaim the lead at 24-21 and never relinquished it the rest of the way.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 5 Endicott (9-1) will play the loser of No. 2 Wayne State and No. 6 Catholic in the NCR Small College Third Place match on Sunday, December 11 at 10 AM (EST). Sunday's match will not be broadcast on the NCR YouTube Channel as it will not be played in the main stadium. 

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

(Photo Credit - Leanna Puccio '24)