Trinity Western’s men’s rugby sevens team captured the Shield Championship at the West Coast 7s Treasure Island, winning two its three games on Day 2, capped by a 33-7 win over UC Davis in the Shield Final Sunday at Ray Sheeran Field.
Ethan Bernardin (Langley) led the Spartans with nine tries throughout the tournament, as TWU finished the weekend with three wins in six games in what was the Spartans first men’s sevens tournament in program history.
TWU opened the day with a 26-17 loss to USC in the Bowl quarter-final. Khyree Poole (El Cajon, Calif.), Bernardin and Nate Schroeder (West Kelowna, B.C.) each scored tries, with Jacob Sousa (Langley, B.C.) converting one of his three attempts.
With the Shield becoming the target after the loss to UCS, the Spartans ran in seven tries on their way to a 45-0 win over Cal Maritime. Schroeder scored a hat-trick in the first five minutes of the contest, before David Wegert (Langley), Eri Niebuhr (Surrey, B.C.), Bernardin and Ben Hus (Calgary) tallied in the second half. Sousa slotted five conversions.
Against UC Davis, Bernardin scored three times, including two in the first four minutes, with Ben Graci (Edmonton) and Poole also scoring tries in a dominant win for TWU. Wegert added four converts as TWU finished the tournament with a record of 3-3 overall.
QUOTABLE
Andy Evans – TWU Head Coach
“Overall, it a massive testing point for our team. We improved tremendously from the first game to the last game. We’re starting to draw out the individual talent and team cohesion and built on that throughout the weekend. From yesterday to today was unreal. Our tackling was phenomenal. We focused on our restarts today and we were strong in the air and at the breakdown. We were putting a lot pressure on teams defensively and there were a lot of positives to take from the weekend.”
SCHEDULE
Day 1 | Saturday | October 19th
10 a.m. | TWU (12) San Diego (24)
12:20 p.m. | TWU (0) California (51)
3:20 p.m. | TWU (21) San Jose State (0)
Day 2 | Sunday | October 20th
9:40 a.m. | TWU (17) USC (26)
12:00 p.m. | TWU (45) Cal Maritime (0)
2:20 p.m. | TWU (33) UC Davis (7)
TWU ROSTER
Ethan Bernardin – Langley, B.C. | R.E. Mountain Secondary
Daniel Clement – Edmonton, Alta. | Edmonton Clansmen
Ben Graci – Edmonton, Alta. | Nor’westers AA
Ben Hus – Calgary, Alta. | Ernest Manning High School
Ethan Kelt – Port Coquitlam, B.C. | United Rugby Club
Erik Niebuhr – Surrey, B.C. | Bayside Sharks
Khyree Poole – El Cajon, Calif. | OMBAC Rugby
Markus Rauch – Abbotsford, B.C. | Robert Bateman Secondary
Nate Schroeder – West Kelowna, B.C. | Mount Boucherie Secondary
Garrett Sheperd – El Dorado Hills, Calif. | Gentlemen of Aspen RFC
Jacob Sousa – Langley, B.C. | R.E. Mountain Secondary
David Wegert – Langley, B.C. | R.E. Mountain Secondary