ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- Eight different players scored tries for the Central Washington University men's rugby team as the Wildcats shutout Utah State 78-0 in D1A rugby action Saturday afternoon on the Wildcats Rugby Pitch.
 
"I think we had good moments today and got ourselves structurally in position to be successful, but at times we struggled with consistency to finish the job, whether it was making a tackle or being accurate with our catch pass," CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley said.  "We got ourselves into shape to make decisions, now we have to focus on the execution piece which is how it should be at this time of the year."
 
 
The Wildcats got rolling early when Scott Dean and Max Riseman moved the ball down the right side, finding Jackson Cooley near mid pitch where the freshman marched in for the opening score.
 
Three minutes later Dean broke loose from center pitch breaking a pair of arm tackles to push across the try line.  Nick Siemens followed with his first of seven conversions on the day to put CWU up 12-0.
 
Siemens joined the scoring party in the 10^th minute, tallying from 40-meters out and bookended the play with a conversion to increase the lead to 19-0.
 
Siemens continued to have an impact on the first half with a up-and-under kick that resulted in a five-meter scrum where Larry Peneueta smashed through the Aggie defense for his lone try of the contest.
 
Cole Zarcone and Jack Wendling finished off the first half flurry with a pair of scores up the left side to give CWU a 45-0 halftime advantage.
 
Zarcone also ensured the shutout late in the first half as the Aggies took advantage of a misplay by the CWU attack and countered up the right side.  Zarcone was the last line of defense and stripped the ball two meters from the try zone and threw the ball off the Aggie attacker to thwart the scoring attempt and give CWU possession.
 
Central Washington scored twice early in the second half on a pair of 40 meter runs by Zarcone and Riseman to put CWU up 59-0 with 30 minutes to play.
 
Twenty-two minutes went past before the Wildcats added to their lead when Ian Wright broke the scoring drought on a counter ruck from two-meters out.
 
Central's final two tallies came in the 75^th and 77^th minutes from Cooley and Wendling.
 
SCORING SUMMARY VS UTAH STATE
03:00 – Jackson Cooley 5
06:00 – Scott Dean 5, Nick Siemens 2
10:00 – Nick Siemens 5, 2
18:00 – Larry Peneueta 5
24:00 – Scott Dean 5, Nick Siemens 2
28:00 – Cole Zarcone 5, Nick Siemens 2
32:00 – Jack Wendling 5, Nick Siemens 2
HALFTIME SCORE: CENTRAL WASHINGTON 45, UTAH STATE 0
43:00 – Cole Zarcone 5, Nick Siemens 2
50:00 – Max Riseman 5, Nick Siemens 2
72:00 – Ian Wright 5, Jake Szumski 2
75:00 – Jackson Colley 5
77:00 – Jack Wendling 5, Jake Szumski 2
FINAL SCORE:  CENTRAL WASHINGTON 78, UTAH STATE 0