Men's Rugby | 3/2/2017 5:06:00 PM

LAS VEGAS (Mar. 2) – The Central Washington University men's rugby team swept day one of the Las Vegas Invitational, taking down Buffalo, Tulane, and Georgetown in 7's play.
 
"Really pleasing to see the improvement we showed as the day went on both individually and collectively," CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley said.  "Everyone on this team showed what they are capable of and no drop-off in standard of play occurred. Our mindset & work ethic was outstanding at times today, the key going forward is to apply it with some consistency for day 2 success."
 
The Wildcats opened the day with a 39-0 victory over Buffalo.  Dominic Lindstrom recorded a hat trick, while Cameron Marek and Cole Zarcone each tallied twice in the win.  Ian Wright made two conversions.
 
In the second game of the day against Tulane, the Wildcats notched their second shutout.  Nick Siemiens opened the scoring, before Sinclair Clinton and Marek both scored.  Corey Nuti then tallied twice in a row.  Fabian Lumsden followed Nuti with two tries of his own.  Wright capped the scoring.  He also made two conversions, while Simi Ratukalou added a pair as well in the 50-0 win.
 
Georgetown found the scoreboard first in the final game of the day.  Lumsden brought the score back to level, before Martin Van Der Wal gave Central Washington the lead.  Lindstrom struck again and Wright added a conversion.  Vili Toluta'u punched his way into try twice.  Zarcone added a try late as well. The final score was 32-5.
 
"Now we have to win the recovery battle, stay disciplined and be prepared for a high standard of rugby tomorrow," Thornley added.  "I'm excited to see the adjustments this group can make in pursuit of winning two more games tomorrow."
 
The Wildcats exit pool play as the number two seed and take on Dixie State University tomorrow at 10:20 a.m.  Lindenwood University earned the number one seed and plays number eight Lindenwood-Belleville.