WVU Men vs. Loyola College of Maryland 2-14-09
The WVU Men’s Rugby team hit the road for their 1st match of an ambitious spring schedule in which they seek to build upon their 2nd straight Midwest Playoff appearance. After 4 weeks of indoor practice and 2 indoor scrimmages the WVU men would travel to Baltimore to take on the Loyola College Grayhounds of the Potomac Rugby Union. Loyola was ranked as high as 14th in Division 2 by Erugbynews.com last fall and are the # 3 seed from the PRU in the Mid-Atlantic playoffs. The match would be a tough one with a full squad but it was made even tougher as WVU would be without several members of the starting 22 from the Midwest playoffs due to a variety of circumstances. WVU was without the services of 8man Anthony Manga, Lock Clint Feely, Flanker Angelo Martinez, Fullback Jeff Dull, Wing Ian Reese, Back Eric Dukes, Flanker Alfa Kaba, and Lock/Flanker Wes Harris.
Vinny Rozette would get his 1st start at the hooker position, with Kenny Wilkins sliding to flanker. Freshman Paul LaMancusa would start at fullback and sophomore Armand Patella would start at wing.
From warm-ups the team appeared evenly matched, and had similar styles of play. A large contingent of WVU alumni, parents, and friends were in attendance for the match which helped bolster the sidelines and temper the rowdy Loyola sideline. WVU would need to keep penalty minutes to a minimum and control the pace of the gameWVU would gain the momentum from the kickoff and would spend the 1st five minutes of the game inside the Loyola 40m line and had several opportunities to score. A turnover led to Loyola clearing the ball down field inside the WVU 10m line. After several runs by Loyola were stopped Loyola committed a penalty that allowed WVU to clear the ball. A driving lineout from inside the Loyola 22m line almost succeded but the ball was knocked on. At the 19 minute mark WVU had a scrum inside the Loyola 22m line and a perfectly and quickly executed 8 man pick by freshman Duncan Rohlfing saw him run 20 m for the score under the posts, Paul LaMancusa made the PAT and WVU was up 7-0.
For the next 15 minutes WVU would be camped inside the Loyola side of the field and be repeatedly turned away by the excellent Loyola defense. Not being able to punch a score in WVU got a little frustrated and committed a penalty for hands in ruck. This became an unraveling point as Loyola would quick to touch and WVU would commit 2 more penalties that saw Loyola now inside the WVU 5 m line. The defense was able to hold several times as Loyola went to the pick and drive. The effort was finally successful at the 39 minute mark as Loyola dove for the score to tie the game at 7-7. WVU now found themselves in a tie at half instead of a possible 14-0 lead.
The start of the second half started much as the first ended. Loyola scored with 3 minutes gone in the half as WVU was lazy in the tackle and committed 2 penalties. Now down 12-7 on the road WVU had to re-group and do it fast. Fortunately, WVU was able to settle down and drive down the field into the Loyola 22m line. At 9 minutes into the 2nd half WVU had a scrum inside the 1om line that led to a Loyola penalty. The quick tap by John Velasquez had Loyola offside and making the tackle. The referee had called Loyola several times for not back 10 at the quick penalty, and awarded the penalty try to put WVU up 14-12 as Paul LaMancusa made the kick. With the momentum now in favor of WVU they would continue to keep up the pressure. Prop Nick “Dirty” Sacheli scored at 20 minutes on a pick and drive to put WVU up 21-12. Five minutes later Winger Nick “Hey Red Shorts” Rosales in support of the backs picked up a ball from a quick ruck and ran 30 meters for the score in the corner to put WVU up 26-12. WVU would have several other scoring chances in the last 10 minutes but were stopped short or had the ball held up several times, as the game ended in a hard fought 26-12 victory.
In the B-side game the WVU B-siders would look to continue their 6 game unbeaten streakfrom the fall. Alumni Owen McAteer and Nathaniel Lee suited up for some action, and super super senior and assistant coach Chris Lee did as well. 6 rookies also got their first game for WVU (Nathan Gasti, Kiel Kunzer, Brian Alvarez, Connor Fitzpatrick, Ken McBrady, and Ryan Hollman). In the 1st half, WVU struggled to get their momentum as there were rookies at both scrumhalf and flyhalf. Some hard running by locks Andy Timbers, and Jim Leonard drove the ball down into the Loyola side of the field and Chris Lee score the 1st try of the game and only one of half for a 5-0 lead. The second half WVU got settled and made us of their speed and hard running. Hooker Kyle Reed showed that he was over the flu and score on 2 40 meter runs thru the defense to put WVU up 17-0. A great 35 m run by prop Tommy Giancola almost resulted in a try but it couldn’t be collected up by wing Brian Alvarez. With 5 minutes left in the game the ball was spun wide by the backs and rookie wing Ryan Hollman dove over for his 1st career try and WVU went on to win 22-0.
A special thanks to all the parents, alumni, and friends that came out to support us in the cold and on Valentine’s day: In particular the Thompson, Rozette, Turner, Lance, Giancola, Flanders, Coster, and Niles families, along with alumni Justin Debes, Owen McAteer, Patrick Christy, Nathaniel Lee, and many others.
A-Side LineupB-side Lineup
1: Nick Sacheli(1 try)1. Steve Majorstovic
2: Vinny Rozette2. Kyle Reed (2 tries)
3: Geoff Flanders3. Tommy Giancola
4: Sean Goglin4. Jim Leonard
5: John Velasquez (1 try)5. Andy Timbers
6: Tim Turner6. Jon Scally
7: Kenny Wilkins7. Tim Sawruk
8: Duncan Rohlfing (1 try)8. Chris Lee (1try)
9: Ryan Coster9. Nathan Gasti
10: Bryan Thompson10. Kiel Kunzer
11: Nick Rosales(1 try)11. Brian Alvarez
12: Chris Vittese 12. Craig Vittese
13: Joe Callegari13. Travis Lance
14: Armand Patella14. Ryan Hollman (1try)
15: Paul LaMancusa (3 conversions)15. Owen McAteer(1 conversions)
SubsSubs
Tim Sawruk at 67 minutes for FlandersConnor Fitzpatrick for Leonard at half
John Scally at 71 minutes for TurnerNathaniel Lee for Timbers at half
Andy Timbers at 74 minutes for Goglin Ken McBrady for Sawruk at half
Back MVP for the A-side match was Fullback, Paul LaMancusa
Pack MVP for the A-side match was John Velasquez
Pack MVP for the B-side match was Hooker ,Kyle Reed
Back MVP of the B-side match was Flyhalf, Kiel Kunzer