OSHAWA, Ont. - In their return campaign to the OCAA, having last played in the conference in 1996, the Durham College men's rugby team will compete for gold after defeating the St. Lawrence Vikings 38-17 in Saturday afternoon's OCAA semifinal showdown.

The Lords have surpassed expectations in their return season to provincial competition, finishing first in the East Division to earn a bye to the semifinal round. Having split their season series with the Vikings an evenly matched playoff contest was expected.

After St. Lawrence jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, Durham quickly rebounded to score the next three tries to take a 19-5 lead into the half. Team scoring leader Daniel Cooper (Uxbridge, Ont.) ran in the first two Lords tries from in tight, while the other was scored off an impressive run up the middle by Ty Jacob (Oshawa, Ont.).

The second half featured much more back-and-forth action. Blocking a clearing kick attempt, Lords hooker Patrick Lynch (Oshawa, Ont.) jumped on the loose ball in the try zone to further the gap. After a response by the Vikings, Cooper added his third of the game with another strong run up the middle of the St. Lawrence defence.

In the final five minutes each team would add one more tour into the try zone with James Stockwood (Bowmanville, Ont.) sealing the deal for the Lords. Eddie Oliveira (Recife, Brazil) nailed four converts in the Lords win.

Durham will now host the OCAA championship game next weekend. They will face the West Division winning Georgian Grizzlies, who defeated the Algonquin Thunder 46-27 in today's other OCAA semifinal contest. Date, time, and location are to be announced early in the week.

Source: Durham Lords