ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Jan. 2) – The Central Washington University men's rugby team travels to California for a pair of XV's fixtures against the UC-Davis and St. Mary's College.
FIXTURE INFORMATION
Thursday, January 3 | 6:00 PM
at UC Davis
Davis, Calif.
Saturday, January 5 | 1:00 PM
at Saint Mary's College
Moraga, Calif.
QUOTABLE
"Finally, we get our season started after a great three months of preparation in the fall," CWU Head Coach
Todd Thornley said. "The returners are excited to build on last year's performance against two quality opponents which will help the new-comers on their first trip away representing the Wildcats. Both opponents are extremely well coached and will challenge us in different ways, so we will find out a lot about ourselves. I couldn't think of two better games to start our year."
SCOUTING UC DAVIS
UC Davis is 3-0 on the season. The Aggies captured a pair of victories in early December before breaking off for the holidays. In their last two outings, UC Davis has outscored their opponents 78-17. They defeated UC Santa Cruz 52-7, before taking down Chico State in a 26-10 affair.
Last season the Aggies defeated Central, 28-14.
Jack Wendling and
Ivan Pula each recorded a try, while
Nick Siemens and
Ian Wright knocked through conversions.
SCOUTING NO. 4 SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE
The Gaels A side most recently recorded a 48-19 victory over Sant Rosa Men's Club on December 29. Prior to their drubbing of SRMC, the Gaels A-side beat San Francisco Golden Gate 23-12 in a muddy affair on Pat Vincent Field.
Golden Gate struck first with a quick try two minutes in to the match. The conversion after was no good. The Gaels finally put points on the board just 28 minutes into the first half, Joe Yacoubian slotted a penalty kick. Following the penalty, Ronan Murphy added five with a conversion to follow and Yacoubian making his second penalty kick of the day. The Gaels trailed by two. SFGG did not find their way into goal for the remainder of the half. The Gaels led 13-5 at the end of the half. The second half saw two more Gael tries by Tom Brussati and Ethan Waller to solidify the win.
NO. 14 WILDCAT LINEUP
Eleven Wildcats will be making their Central Washington debut on Thursday evening.
The Wildcats' XV squad will be captained by Alex Mackenzie as the number eight.
Jonah Auvaa,
Riley Schell,
Doug Mitchell,
Elliott Finn,
Noah Wright,
Henry Foster, and
Marques Fuala'au will be making their debut as starters, while
Diego Damian-Hernandez,
Nickolis Haviland,
Albert O'Shannessey, and
Lewis Hollidge will make their debut as a finisher.
Below is the full squad for the Wildcats against UC Davis:
1.
Jonah Auvaa*
2.
Riley Schell*
3.
Doug Mitchell*
4. John DuPree
5.
Noah Christy
6.
Elliott Finn*
7.
Makani Mafua
8. Alex Mackenzie (C)
9.
Noah Wright*
10.
Henry Foster*
11.
Jackson Cooley
12.
Jake Szumski
13.
Marques Fuala'au*
14.
Cole Zarcone (VC)
15.
Max Riseham
Finishers
16.
Diego Damian-Hernandez*
17.
Nickolis Haviland*
18.
Tresten Keys
19.
Deven Marshall
20.
Albert O'Shannessey*
21.
Kawika Macy
22.
Lewis Hollidge*
23.
Jack Wendling
