Buena Vista, Va. – The Southern Virginia University rugby team closed out its home slate for the semester in a thrilling contest against the University of Mary Washington, narrowly falling 29-25 in a back-and-forth battle.
The visiting Eagles struck first with an early penalty conversion to take a 3-0 lead, but the Knights quickly answered. Milemoti Pulotu powered his way through the defense for Southern Virginia's first try, putting the Knights ahead 5-3. A successful penalty conversion soon after extended the lead to 7-3.
Southern Virginia maintained possession through a series of scrums, forcing long clearing kicks from Mary Washington. The Eagles responded with another penalty to pull within one, 7-6, before the Knights answered with a penalty conversion of their own to make it 10-6.
Mary Washington regained momentum midway through the half, capitalizing on a quick throw-in to score a try and edge ahead 11-10 after a missed conversion. The Eagles continued to press and added another try moments later, breaking through the Knights' strong goal-line defense to extend their lead to 16-10.
Refusing to back down, the Knights closed the half with a relentless push near the try line as Pone Aisea and Saveaalii Fitisemanu powered through multiple defenders to score. The conversion brought Southern Virginia within one, trailing 16-15 at halftime.
The second half turned into a physical battle of attrition, with both sides trading heavy tackles and long possessions. After nearly 30 minutes of play, the Knights reclaimed the lead 18-16 through a successful penalty conversion.
Mary Washington answered immediately with another try and conversion to go up 23-18, but the Knights stormed back late as Fitisemanu again barreled through defenders to score a try in the 77th minute. A clean conversion put Southern Virginia back ahead 25-23.
In the final moments, however, the Eagles converted late to edge back in front, sealing the hard-fought match 29-25.
Southern Virginia now heads on the road for its final match of the fall, traveling to face Penn State on Saturday, November 15th.
For the latest updates on Southern Virginia University Rugby, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_rugby on Instagram.
