NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's rugby team defeated Univ. of Vermont 17-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Dog River Pitch to advance to the New England Wide Collegiate Rugby Conference (NEWCRC) finals.

Norwich (6-1, 5-0 NEWCRC) fell behind 3-0 in the opening three minutes of the game as UVM converted on penalty kick to draw first blood. However, it was all Cadets from there as Norwich rattled off 17 straight points en route to his sixth straight win and punch its ticket to the NEWCRC Championship. The Cadets will once again face long-time rival UMass Lowell in the finals next weekend at home. Game date and time will be determined soon.

Norwich defeated UMass Lowell 32-16 in the 2019 Rugby Northeast Championship game to win its fourth straight 15s title. The Cadets also defeated UMass Lowell in the 2018 Rugby Northeast semifinals.

Junior Ahmad A Bitang (Vero Beach, Fla.) got Norwich on the board in the 25th minute with an uncoverted try to make it 5-3 Cadets. Neither side was able to score again for the remainder of the first half.

Junior captain Leo Clayburgh (Brussels, Belgium) jolted the Cadets again in the second half with a terrific individual play to intercept a UVM offload and then burst through their line for a long 40-yard try run to make it 10-3 Norwich. Clayburgh added the conversion to make it 12-3 Norwich in the 48th minute. 

Freshman Marius Edwards (Unity, N.H.) scored his first A side try to put the nail in the game in the 65th minute and stretch the Norwich lead to 17-3.

Neither side was able to score again and Norwich walked away with the hard-fought 17-3 victory.

With the victory, Norwich clinched a bid into the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Division II National Tournament. The top three teams from the NEWCRC will earn berths into the national tournament, which begins Nov. 13. 

The Norwich/UMass Lowell NEWCRC Championship game will be live streamed next weekend at www.nsnsports.net/colleges/norwich.