Brother Martin faced #1 seed and nationally ranked Shaw in the rugby State Final last Saturday night at Pan American Stadium. In the beginning of the match, the Crusader defense stood strong and denied Shaw any points. However, about 15 minutes in, the Crusaders committed an infraction giving Shaw a penalty kick which they converted for a 3-0 lead. Shaw would hit one more penalty kick a few minutes later to increase the lead to 6-0. As the seconds ticked down to halftime, Brother Martin continued to play great defense, but Shaw was eventually able to put a try across give the Eagles a 13 – 0 lead.
In the second half, Shaw scored two more tries resulting in a 25 – 0 score. The Crusader refused to die and senior wing, Joey Morris scored a beautiful try in the corner and Sinesio Canseco made the tough conversion to put the final score at 25-7.
The Crusaders finished the season 2nd in State which earns them a bid in the Southern Regional tournament to be played in Gretna on May 4th and 5th.
