From the opening whistle, the intensity was palpable as both teams battled fiercely. Brown led by a mere point at halftime, the score reading 8-7 in favor of the Bears. The first half of the match saw key performances from Brown players, including Raphael Lansonneur who opened the match's scoring with a penalty kick at 5 minutes, and Henrique Gabriel who scored a crucial try from a lineout maul at the 23-minute mark to put Brown back in the lead after Bonnies had scored and converted a try from a scrum set play at the 15th minute. Neither team would score again until the 67th minute when St. Bonventure reclaimed the lead from a penalty kick, putting Brown behind by two, 10-8.

Throughout the match, Brown's forward pack was notably dominant over their Bonnies counterparts at the scrum, winning six scrum penalties. This would factor into the match's deciding moment when the Bears were awarded a scrum from about fifteen meters out from an offside at a kick penalty committed by St. Bonaventure. At this scrum, the Bonnies' pack collapsed under pressure from the Bears and the Bonnies backline came offsides. Playing to the penalty advantage, with time expired, Lansonneur attempted a dropkick which was effectively blocked by the Bonnies defence. At the penalty mark, with a championship berth in the balance, Lansonneur calmly slotted the game-winning kick, giving Brown the lead for the third and final time in the match, 11-10.

Brown's perseverance and strategic play were highlighted in post-game comments. Co-captain Raphael Lansonneur '25 shared,

"So proud of the boys for never giving up. Even though we were down for the last 15 minutes of the game, we all stepped up and outworked Bonnies’ strong defense giving us the game-winning penalty."

Head Coach David Laflamme also reflected on the game's intensity,

"Of course us and Bonnies have become familiar opponents over these last few postseasons, we know what each other are capable of, and we anticipated that this would probably come down to the wire one way or another."

As Brown prepares for their next challenge, they will face Queens University at SaberCats Stadium in Houston, TX, on December 14, 2024 at 7:15 pm EST. The team's focus on defence, discipline, and ball possession is poised to be pivotal as they aim for the 2024 National Collegiate Rugby championship title.