Philadelphia Whitemarsh finished the regular EPRU season with a perfect 8-0 season with a win today over Wilkes Barre. The win sets up PWRFC for the top seed in the MARFU playoffs in the spring of 2012. North Penn and Old Gaelic finished a razor-close second and third.
Philadelphia Whitemarsh narrowly defeated North Penn 14-11 on November 5th on a last minute penalty, then a game-ending potentially tying penalty by North Penn sailed just wide. Earlier in the season, Philadelphia Whitemarsh also narrowly defeated Old Gaelic 34-28. The game ended on the PWRFC 5-meter line with Old Gaelic looking to punch in for the tie. And just this past weekend, North Penn squeaked out a victory over Old Gaelic at North Penn's pitch in Hatfield, PA 17-14. With 10 minutes left, Old Gaelic was leading 14-10. North Penn put on a series of phases, scored in the corner and hit the conversion to go up by 3. Old Gaelic responded in the last minutes of the match. On the doorstep of the North Penn try line, the tough North Penn defense held them off until the final whistle. It was another great EPRU DIII match.
With such close finishes, the EPRU looks to place all 3 sides into the final weekend of the MARFU playoffs.
Old Gaelic 2011 MARFU Champion
In the spring of 2011, Old Gaelic and Virginia made it to the MARFU finals with Old Gaelic taking the MARFU championship. In the USA Rugby Round of 16, Old Gaelic defeated Columbus/Ft. Benning 47-8 before losing to Metropolis 20-10. The #2 seed Virginia defeated Bragg 25-22 before losing to Syracuse 13-11. Ironically Syracuse and Metropolis both won their semifinal contests and met in the USA Rugby Final. Metropolis defeated Syracuse 46-25 to win the National DIII Championship.
April 30, 2011 MARFU Quarterfinals
Game 1 - Seed #1 (Virginia) over Seed #8 (Hibernians) by forfeit
Game 2 - Seed #2 (Old Gaelic) 36 v Seed #7 (James River) 19
Game 3 - Seed #3 (North Penn) 19 v Seed #6 (Washington Renegades) 16
Game 4 - Seed #4 (North Bay) 7 v Seed #5 (Blacksburg) 21
May 7-8, 2011
MARFU Semi-Finals and Final
Location - James River (Host)
Saturday
1:00 Game 5 - Winners of Games #1 and #4: Virginia 26 v Blacksburg 12
3:00 Game 6 - Winners of Games #2 and #3: Old Gaelic 21 v North Penn 11
Sunday
11:00 Consolation: Blacksburg 35, North Penn 22
1:00 Championship: Old Gaelic 26, Virginia RFC 24
Top three EPRU DIII teams for Fall 2011 / Spring 2012
1-Philadelphia-Whitemarsh RFC-(#1 seed in MARFU)
2-North Penn RFC-(#5 seed in MARFU)
3-Old Gaelic RFC-(#7 seed in MARFU)
View the entire 2011 Fall EPRU Division III Results and Standings »
2012 Division III Playoff Schedule
Seedings1. EPRU #1 |
Quarterfinals
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Semi-Finals and Final Weekend
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The two teams moving into the April 29th MARFU DIII Championship match will go to the USA Division III Round of 16 on a date still to be announced.
PWRFC Fall Season Matches
- PW 53 - Philly Gryphons 7
- PW 45 - Reading 11
- PW 34 - Old Gaelic 27
- PW 67 - Lehigh Valley 13
- PW 51 - Harrisburg 7
- PW 35 - South Jersey 22
- PW 14 - North Penn 11
- PW 78 - Wilkes-Barre 12
Read more about the match at PWRFC dot com »