Local resident Craig Sakowski plays on Mount St. Mary's University Men's Rugby Team and is Heading to the National Championship "Final Four" Tournament

2015 Apr 9

Craig Sakowski of Jarrettsville, MD plays lock for the Mount St. Mary's University Men's Rugby team and is heading to the national "Final Four" tournament.

The team earned a repeat trip to the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) Champions Cup "Final Four" with a convincing 67-14 win over Duke University on March 29, in Charlotte, N.C.

The victory over the Blue Devils capped a dominating run for the Mount through the Mid-Atlantic South Region Championship. The day before, Mount St. Mary's overwhelmed Susquehanna University 65-29 in its "Sweet 16" matchup.

"There was a lot of excitement from the Duke fans about their men's basketball team making the Final Four, but I'm glad we were able to stop them from getting there on the rugby pitch," said Mount Head Coach Jay Myles. "I was extremely pleased with our team. We played a physical, dynamic, and intelligent match for 80 minutes against Duke, and our continuity of play kept Duke on edge the entire match.

"These matches posed an extremely difficult challenge for us. The winter conditions prohibited us from being able to truly prepare and play leading up to the tournament, Myles said. "Susquehanna was a very hard fought and physical match. They are very well coached and play a very fast yet physical style of rugby. Duke is accustomed to winning. Their players are extremely skilled and very fast. During both matches, our forwards gave us a great attacking platform by securing the ball and always breaking the gain line. This allowed our back line to attack both inside and outside opportunities. We focused on conditioning during the winter and it seemed to pay off. At the end of the day commitment, conditioning, and our patterns of play carried us."

Sean Hartig, C'16, earned tournament MVP honors for his performance and field leadership.

"Sean is an exceptional leader on and off the pitch," Myles said "His physical conditioning and rugby IQ is outstanding and he exemplifies what it means to be a Mount Rugby player. He is very smart and talented and has a great future."

In 2014, the Mount lost to New England College 54-36 in the Champions Cup national semifinals and finished fourth in the country after losing to the University of Denver 45-31 in the consolation match. Myles and the Mount ruggers have their work cut out for them this year as well - facing two-time defending champion St. John's University (MN) in the national semifinal.

"Playing St. John's will be a great test for our boys, Myles said. "They are a very experienced side and don't make very many errors. One of their best strengths is ball retention. Our main focus leading up to the Final Four will be getting our physical conditioning higher and working on ball skills. Each player will need to increase their individual skill level and incorporate them into our system.

"Making it to the Final Four last year was an incredible learning curve for many reasons," Myles said. "We played six first year players and started four freshmen. Having a very young team at the Final Four really created some difficult challenges. We learned that even though our inexperience was exposed, we could stand toe to toe with anyone. This year we have focused on the areas of development from last year and emphasized our strengths."

Myles took over the Mount rugby program three years ago focusing on getting the team to understand how much better they could be if they were fit and focused. Myles says it was an extreme culture shock, but the team responded confidently.

"The trust that has developed between our players is nothing short of amazing. We promote the mantra: 'None of us are stronger than all of us.' This is taken to heart and something I use when we talk about sacrifice," Myles said. "The team supports each other on and off the pitch. They seem to grasp the concepts of unity through adversity. The support of the university has made a tremendous difference for us as well. We feel the support and it forces us to work harder for the national title."

The NSCRO semifinal matches will be played April 25 at Infinity Park in Glendale, CO. The Mount St. Mary's-St. John's University match kicks off at 1 p.m. (MDT). The championship and consolation matches are scheduled for April 26.