The AU Men's Rugby team advanced to the Potomac Rugby Union semifinals Saturday, flying past the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, 29-12, at the National Rugby Pitch on the National Mall.
Kevin Gemmingen and Nick Profita broke through with first-half tries for the Eagles. Though the ensuing conversions failed after each try, the Eagles still had a commanding 10-0 lead going into halftime.
After the break, the Eagles extended their lead to 15-0 through another try via John Fitzpatrick. But the Blue Jays responded, scoring two tries of their own and making one conversion to close the deficit to 15-12.
With time running down, the Eagles finally sheared off the Blue Jays' wings, when Profita scored his second try of the afternoon before Michael Vaughn followed suit. This time, Vaughn made both conversions, pushing the score to 29-12.
The Potomac Rugby Union's collegiate division consists of teams based in and around the D.C. region. With the win, AU advances to play Salisbury University, defending union champions and last spring's USA Rugby Division II national champions.
AU's B Team - or reserve side -dropped its match with the Blue Jays, 22-12.
