Niagara, New York - The Bowling Green Men's Rugby Team (8-3 Overall, 5-1 MAC, 1-0 Nationals) beat Babson (5-3 Overall, 4-2 Liberty) in a 55-3 victory in the 2025 D1-AA NCR Nationals Play-In match. BG now faces Virginia Tech in Reading, Pennsylvania in the Quarterfinal for the NCR Nationals Tournament on November 22nd, at 1:00 PM in Butler, Pennsylvania.

"Babson was a great way to move into the rest of the post season. A hardy, well deserved win in rough conditions," said Fullback Joey Apel

Going into the match Babson was unknown. BG knew Babson was on a good run and high in confidence. Babson had just finished as the 4th Seed in the Liberty Rugby Conference after going 4-2 for their first appearance in the Liberty Rugby Conference Tournament. They recently defeated the No. 1 Seed, a 6-0 Northeastern side in the first round of the LRC Tournament to make it to their first LRC Tournament Final. However they ended up finishing runners-up to the No. 2 Seed Boston College (then 6-1 Overall, 5-1 Liberty). Bowling Green came out strong and got a grip on the game. The Falcons were able to regain focus quickly following a 45 minute Lightning delay. Ultimately, the Falcons started with the foot on the gas and were able to put Babson to the sword and earn themselves another 80 minutes of rugby. 

"Our match against Babson was a very complete game for us from both a tactical and execution perspective," said Head Coach Tony Mazzarella. "We need to take a step up from this weekend for our match with Virginia Tech."  

The match started out with a 45 minute lightning delay after a lightning strike right before Babson kicked off. The game was pushed back to a 1:15pm kickoff. After the delay both teams had 20 minutes to warm up and regain their focus. The Falcons took over control of the game immediately. Prop Vinnie Pfahl scored the first two tries and Fullback Joey Apel made his first two conversions. Next Scrumhalf Griffin WIlson followed by 8-Man Evan Holderer and another two conversions by Apel. The Falcons took a solid 28-0 lead going into half time. The second half began with a decent attempt by Babson to get themselves into the game and dig their way out of the 28 unanswered points. Babson only managed to convert a penalty kick to make it 28-3. After that, came another 27 unanswered points for the Falcons. Wing Paolo Sferrella, Prop Kosta Anderson, Flanker Phil Tracey and Flanker Colton Crabiel all contributed with one try each. Fullback Joey Apel made two more conversions and a penalty kick. Overall, the Falcons played a solid game and showed good mental ability to refocus both following a rain delay and with a clear lead going into the second half. 

NOTABLES

• Phil Tracey scores his sixth try in postseason: 4x Western Michigan (MAC Semifinal), 1x Louisville (MAC Final) and Babson (NCR Play-In)

• Falcons return to the National Quarterfinal

Bowling Green (8-3 Overall, 5-1 MAC, 1-0 Nationals) will continue into the post-season following the 55-3 win over Babson with the Quarterfinals of the NCR 15s National Tournament. The Falcons will face the 2021 and 2022 NCR National Champions, back-to-back-to-back Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference Champions Virginia Tech (7-0, 5-0 MARC)  on Saturday, November 22nd at 1:00 PM in Butler, Pennsylvania.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

1st XV

Bowling Green 55, Babson 3

• Kickoff

• Hooker Vinnie Pfahl opens the scoring (5-0)

• Fullback Joey Apel converts (7-0)

• Pfahl scores his second try (12-0)

• Apel converts (14-0)

• Scrum-Half Griffin Wilson scores (19-0)

• Apel converts (21-0)

• 8-Man Even Holderer scores (26-0)

• Apel converts (28-0)

• Halftime: (28-0)

• Babson converts a penalty kick (33-3)

• Wing Paolo Sferrella scores (33-3)

• Apel converts (35-3)

• Fullback Joey Apel converts a penalty kick (38-3)

• Prop Kosta Anderson scores (43-3)

• Flanker Phil Tracey scores (48-3)

• Apel Converts (50-3)

• Flanker Colton Crabiel scores (55-3)

• Final Score: 55-3