DE Assistant Sports Editor

The SIUC Rugby Club is on the verge of going undefeated against its Illinois opponents and making its way to the Midwest Collegiate finals in Chicago later this year.

SIUC will play Western Illinois Saturday to determine whether or not they go undefeated. With a win over WIU, the team might play its way into the national Top-25 polls.

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SIUC Rugby Club president Vince Prato said Western holds one advantage over his squad.

They have a lot of experience, but they have lost to both ISU and U of I, he said.

Getting to the Midwest Collegiate tournament is nothing new to SIUC, as the rugby club got to the finals last year and won the title on the field, but had it taken away off the field.

After winning the tournament, the rugby club was stripped of its title when an error was made as to whether or not SIUC was eligible for play. It was determined that SIUC was eligible, but was not given back its title.

The Rugby Club is 3-0 this season after defeating rivals Illinois State University, 31-12, University of Illinois, 37-7, and shutting out Eastern Illinois, 36-0.

Against Illinois State, SIUC spread the scoring wealth, as Conn Ciaccio scored 11 points while Craig Thomas and Korey Jacobsen chipped in with five points each.

Except for 30 minutes in the middle, we dominated every aspect of the game, Prato said. We dominated set plays, stealing many of their lineouts and scrums.

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SIUC’s next opponent, the University of Illinois, suffered a similar fate to that of the Redbirds. This time however, SIUC struggled a bit early.

Early penalties and the wind killed us for the first 30 minutes, Prato said. Our tackling looked impressive and saved us a few tries, along with costly U of I penalties.

Eastern Illinois proved no match for SIUC, as EIU was shut out 36-0. Again, the Salukis faltered early, but not at the hands of the Panthers.

Everyone wanted to score which resulted in none for the first 20 minutes, Prato said. In the second half, we dominated every phase of the game and came together as a team.

As for Western Illinois, Prato said he is looking forward to the contest and the challenge of finishing the season undefeated.

It’ll be a test of how good we really are, he said.