LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team is off to the national semifinals, thanks to a dramatic victory over the Trinity Western Spartans on Wednesday night in Langley, British Columbia. The OUA-champion Gryphons, seeded No. 5 in the eight-team national championship tournament, received a match-winning try from Kobe Faust on the final play of the match to defeat the No. 4-seeded Trinity Western Spartans, 12-10, in the third quarter-final match at the 2023 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship Wednesday night (Nov. 15) at the Willoughby Community Park Stadium at the Langley Events Centre. 
With Trinity Western serving as the host school for the 2023 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championships, the home crowd had plenty to cheer about early with the Spartans jumping out to 10-0 lead. But the Gryphons would storm back, with Brenden Black scoring Guelph's first try of the match in the 47th minute, followed by a convert, to trim the Guelph deficit to 10-7. It would stay that way until the closing moments of the match, where the Gryphons would work their way down the field, with Kobe Faust, a marketing management major from Uxbridge, Ontario, providing the heroics on the game's final play.
The Gryphons, who have appeared in the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship every year since its inception in 2017, now advance to the national semifinals on Friday night, where they will face the two-time defending national champions and the tournament's and No. 1-seeded UBC Thunderbirds. UBC defeated the Calgary Dinos in their quarterfinal matchup.
Friday night's national semifinal game between Guelph and UBC will get underway at 10:30pm ET on Friday, Nov. 17 and can be seen live online at therugbynetwork.com.
SCORING SUMMARY
First Half
TWU – PK 10 Matthew Willemse, 21:10, 3-0
Second Half
TWU – Try 10 Matthew Willemse, 39:20, 8-0
TWU – Con 10 Matthew Willemse 40:30, 10-0
GUE – Try 10 Brenden Black, 46:55, 10-5
GUE – Con 11 Tomas Dallan, 47:45, 10-7
GUE – Try 13 Kobe Faust, 60, 10-12
Final
Guelph – 12
Trinity Western – 10
Players of the Match
Guelph: 10 Brenden Black
TWU: 10 Matthew Willemse
