By Justin Rutledge | 09.15.16

Division 2

The season kicked off on September 10, and a big-match atmosphere was thick in the air. The Division II side was set to host the auld enemy, the Division II National Runner-Up Detroit Tradesmen. The Division III side faced off, for the first time, against the Cleveland Rovers. Expectations were high. Nerves were higher. Both sides knew how important a strong start would be to the season. Unfortunately, neither team got off to the start that they had wanted.

The Division II side faced off against the Detroit Tradesmen at the team’s Metroparks pitch in a match that was a tale of two halves. While the overall product was inconsistent, the effort was enough to get a 29-29 draw to start off the season.

The first half had the Tradesmen draw first blood with a try, though the conversion went begging. The Crusaders remained undaunted by this early lead and stuck to the game plan, putting pressure on the Detroit offense and preventing them from gaining momentum. The pressure resulted the Tradesmen committing penalties. It was these penalties that would carry the Crusaders for the majority of the match. Before the march, flyhalf Nick Viviani told his team he intended to hit any penalty kick within 50 meters of the sticks – and he did just that. In all, Viviani hit five penalty kicks, one of which sat just inside the offensive half of the field. When the first half ended, the Crusaders were in front with a 15-9 lead.

The second half started out with the Crusaders going straight at the Tradesmen from the initial kick off. The back line tore up the side of the field, putting the Tradesmen on the back foot and struggling to catch up. At the end of the line, wing Steve Burke crossed over and touched down for a try. Unfortunately for the Crusaders, center Steve Fritsch was hurt in the process and had to come off the field. Fortunately for the Crusaders, Preston Lowden came on the field to fill the void; and he made his presence felt immediately. Lowden was all around the field and in the defensive line, and his effort was rewarded when he scored the Crusaders’ second try of the half. Viviani converted both to give Cleveland a nice lead. Late into the match the tide began to turn when the Tradesmen began to build up a bit more offense on the back of some crucial Crusaders errors. There were extended sessions of defense deep in the Crusaders half where stout defense was undone by a penalty or a handling error that eventually ended in tries for the Crusaders. As the final minutes of the match came and went, the Tradesmen had a slim lead did everything possible to hold onto that lead. Detroit opted to plod down the field after receiving a kick off with the forwards picking the ball and eating up inches and seconds. The support from the Tradesmen had ben tight all match on the pick-and-go runs, but fatigue caused some separation in these final moves. A timely poach attempt caused the Tradesmen to commit a penalty that was well within Viviani’s striking range. As he had done so many times earlier in the match, the flyhalf slotted the kick to get the draw.

Division 3

The Division III side had a similar performance against the Rovers in that it was self-inflicted wounds that prevented the win. Whether it was lax support on the runs, or slow ball distribution, the opportunities were there but Cleveland couldn’t capitalize enough to be successful. Cleveland didn’t just lie down and let the Rovers have the win, though. Two of the team’s tries came from flyhalf Grant Woods and fullback Oliver Mooney. Mike Mesi came in from outside center to convert two of the team’s three tries. The final score was 25-19 in favor of the Rovers.

Coming up, both sides are on the road in Pennsylvania, and both will be facing familiar foes. The DII side will have Pittsburgh, while the DIII side will be up against Greensburg. Check the team’s Instagram and Twitter accounts for lineup announcements, score updates and results. Log in, stay tuned and #JoinTheCrusade.