CWU men’s rugby team held off the Seattle Rugby Club 26-24 on Friday Jan. 28 to capture their first win of the season, thanks to a missed penalty kick in the final seconds of play.

After being down 7-0 early in the game, CWU responded with a try by freshman Campbell Robb and a successful conversion by senior fly-half Lewis Hollidge which tied the game at 7-7. 

CWU took the lead when captain and senior 8-man Albert O’Shannessey plunged over the try line. A successful conversion by Hollidge allowed CWU to extend their lead to 14-7.

However, Seattle responded with two consecutive tries and conversions to retake the lead 21-14.

Just before halftime, CWU leveled it once again when junior prop Cam Nelson scored a try and Hollidge converted for the third straight time. Seattle was able to make a penalty kick and go into halftime up 24-21.

The second half had a lot less scoring with the only try being scored by senior scrum-half Noah Wright, which gave CWU a 26-24 lead. 

Seattle tried a last second penalty kick to steal victory, but the kick hit the upright and bounced harmlessly to ground to secure a CWU win.

CWU (1-0) is scheduled to play Western Washington University on Saturday Feb.5 at 1:00 p.m.