GREENWOOD - On an afternoon when the Lander Men's Rugby Team recognized five graduating seniors, they were able to use a late try to honor them with a 32-26 win over Southern Rugby Conference rival The Citadel.

Lander struck first early in the match on a penalty kick from Tomás Mussi, fresh off returning from international duty with his native Paraguay in the South American Games. Unfortunately, The Citadel answered with a try just five minutes later to take the lead at 5-3. 

Following a penalty kick for touch to the Bulldogs' five-meter line, the Bearcats were able to win their lineout and set up a strong maul resulting in a Hayden Bullwinkle try. The conversion failed, putting the score at 8-5.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued as the Bulldogs broke Lander's defense, resulting in a converted try under the goalposts to put the visitors back on top, 12-8. 

The Bearcats once again struck back with another Mussi penalty kick to cut the Citadel lead to 12-11. 

The Citadel was able to extend their lead once again as they would put up another converted try to make it an eight-point lead at 19-11. 

However, the Bearcats were able to cut that lead back to one at the halftime horn. With the last play of the half, Tomas Mussi would receive a pass from scrum-half Logan Eaton on a midfield scrum. Mussi would make a few tacklers miss to score a try that he would convert to make the score  19-18 Citadel at the break. 

After a flurry of scoring in the first half, the second half saw great defense from both sides. The loose forwards of Trey Runck, Ethan Syswerda, and Hayden Bulwinkle repeatedly made tackles to win the breakdown. In the back line, Mussi, Laureano Petris, and Cam Smith were defending the back line of The Citadel very well. 

Around the twentieth minute in the second half, Lander had a knock-on as they were nearing The Citadel's goal line. On the ensuing scrum Bulwinkle charges down what he thinks is going to be an exit kick but the pass misses the mark and goes to the ground, he dives on it for his second try of the day. The Mussi conversion would make it 25-19, Lander. 

The Bulldogs continued to be resilient after Lander scores as they would get a try and squeeze in the conversion to retake the lead at 26-25. 

The Citadel defense would tighten up as the game wound to its final moments. On what could've been their final chance, Lander would be awarded a scrum at their own five-meter line. As the scrum was starting to lose shape, Bulwinkle pulled the ball from the scrum and passed to Max Smith, who then passed to Carey Cortes who took the ball the length of the pitch to score a try under the post. Mussi would make the score 32-26 after the conversion. The Bearcat defense would hold off a desperate Citadel attack at the end to give the Blue and Gold the season sweep over their in-state rival.

Coach Buck Billings had these things to say after the match. "The Citadel came to play hard and they were relentless, they showed today what a great team they have and I'm excited we got this victory. It was truly a team effort and it took all eighty minutes to get the win."

When asked about his seniors, Billings had this to say, "these guys are special, they are my first four-year guys, we've got a combat veteran for a captain in Hayden Bulwinkle, we've got a 4.0 student in our other captain Cam Smith, an entrepreneur in Eric Burkett that's already helped start a clothing brand, an information technology major whose not only in the ROTC, but also in Lander's wind ensemble, and a player that I've coached since just after his 8th-grade year in Jeremiah Rosenbrook. I don't think I'll ever forget this group of men."

The Bearcat of the match was Hayden Bulwinkle with two tries, multiple poaches/not releasing calls at the breakdown, several positive tackles, and consistent play securing possession at the ruck. 

The Bearcats will have a week off before continuing conference play on the road at North Carolina. That game is scheduled for an early 10:00 AM kick-off on November 5th.

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