The US Collegiate All American men scored a try with no time left to beat Canadian Universities in dramatic fashion Saturday at Infinity Park in Glendale, CO. 

The All Americans overcame a wonky scrum, goalkicking woes, and some lineout issues to score four tries to three, and win 23-22.

The All Americans started in control of possession. Lock Matthew Gordon took the kickoff well, and from there the Eagles bashed through some phases against an aggressive Canadian defense.

Scrumhalf Sean Yacoubian launched a nice box kick that was chased down well by wing Connor Mooneyham. His tackle forced a lineout for the All Americans, and eventually a penalty right in front of the posts which Duncan Van Schalkwyk slotted.

The All Americans got the ball back, but then Van Schalkwyk couldn't keep the handle on a kick into his 22, and that turned around the momentum of the first half.

Canadian Universities then put on the pressure. the Canadian scrum had the ascendency and were able to force several penalties. The Americans seemed to have escaped when a tackle from center Mitch Wilson forced a knock-on, but the referee played a long advantage and was back for another Canada penalty.

Once again the All Americans cleared, but eventually flyhalf Josh Engelbrecht sold a couple of dummies and was through for a try for the Canadians and a 5-3 lead. That capped a period of about ten minutes where the All Americans were under pressure.

But after that the hosts started to get out of trouble. A brilliant kick from Yacoubian and a Canadian lineout miss made for a scoring chance for the Americans. But little miscues, especially in the lineout, and a couple of missed kicks by Van Schalkwyk kept the game close.

Then, late in the first half Wilson sliced through and fed his center partner Tavite Lopeti for a superb try. That made it 8-5. And then, with time up in the first half, the Eagles threatened again. Troy Lockyear set up Wes White, but also pulled up lame and was done for the game.

It was unfortunate for the fullback as he had been very good. The All Americans then took another setback when Mooneyham was sin-binned for hitting a man in the air.

But, the All Americans rebounded. They got a couple of penalties, and then Yacoubian gathered a loose ball off a lineout and scampered around the weakside to score.

Halftime, All Americans 13 Canadian University 5.

But that lead perhaps hid some deficiencies in the All Americans' game. Their lineout was not firing, with lifts a little late and one or two throws a little off, too. And the scrum remained an issue, as the Americans could hardly win their own ball.

And with seven points in kicks left unclaimed, the goalkicking was an issue, too.

Canadian Universities surged in early, punishing some missed lineouts and scoring quickly through Stephen Martinez to make it 13-12 with the conversion. the All Americans replied. The Canadians kept committing penalties and it was a good thing, as the All Americans muffed a good overlap chance on the right side.

Finally, though, they punched one over, with Payton Telea Ilalio making the final surge. The Saint Mary's prop didn't get a lot of carries, but those he got were very effective.

Conversion missed again, but the All Americans led 18-12. Then Canada struck. A defensive breakdown opened it up for Mich Richardson to burst up the middle, and with the conversion that made it 19-18 Canadian Universities. A dropped ball then resulted in a scrum for Canada, which led to a penalty, and three points—22-18 with almost no time left.

But the All Americans had one more shot. A couple of small breaks got them down into the Canadian half, and then a couple more penalties set up one more shot. Needing a try, the All Americans took the lineout, set up a maul, and then attacked the line. With the hooter gone, big Ronan Murphy squirmed his way to paydirt to make it 23-22, and a win for the All Americans.

"We just kept fighting," said Telea Ilalio. "That's what our coach, James Willocks, tells us. Americans are just going to keep fighting."

"It was a very physical game," added captain Mitch Wilson. "But [in the mdfield} we kind of clicked."

Wes White was also superb and almost scored on a blocked kick, but the scoring belonged almost exclusively to Saint Mary's, as four Gaels accounted for the four All American tries.

All Americans 23
Tries: Lopeti, Yacoubian, Telea Ilalio, Murphy
Pens: Van Schalkwyk

Canadian Universities 22
Tries: Engelbrecht, Martinez, Richardson
Convs: Richardson, Radliffe
Pens: Radliffe

All Americans: 

1. Payton TeleaIlalio, 2. Jack Manzo, 3. KaremOdeh, 4. Matthew Gordon, 5. Bronson Teles, 6. Ronan Murphy, 7. Nic Mirhashem, 8. Wes White, 9. Sean Yacoubian, 10. Duncan Van Schalkwyk, 11. CristianRodriguez, 12. Mitchel Wilson, 13. TaviteLopeti, 14. MooneyhamConnor, 15. Troy Lockyear

Reserves: 16. Robert Irimescu, 17. Julian Montes, 18. Alec McDonnell, 19. Tanner Pope, 20. Tommy Clark, 21. Michael de Waal, 22. Santiago Mascolo, 23. Michael Dabulas, 24. Harry Masters

Canadian Universities

1. Pat Lynott, 2. Jack McRogers, 3. Stephen Martinez, 4. Kelly Izzak, 5. Nolan Howell, 6. Trevor Helgason, 7. James O'Neill, 8. Marcello Wainright, 9. Riley DiNardo, 10. Joshua Engelbrecht, 11. Sam Ibbotson, 12. Mitch Richardson, 13. Cully Quirke, 14. Jack McCarthy, 15. Ethan Hager

Reserves: 16. Sam Turner, 17. Julian Alexander, 18. Connor O'Flaherty, 19. Matt Fish, 20. Max Radliffe, 21. Connor Byron, 22. Flyn Hayes, 23. Charles Debove