TUSCON, Ariz. (May 24) – The Central Washington University men's rugby team traveled south to Arizona for the 2019 USA Rugby Collegiate 7's National Championships. The Wildcats clawed Cal Poly 28-7 before erasing a 19-point deficit against Davenport University to take the game 24-19.
"We had our moments today and showed a lot of positives to build on for tomorrow," CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley said.
The Wildcats created a deficit for themselves in the second game of the day. The Panthers jumped out to a 19-0 lead with just eight minutes remaining in the 14-minute match. In the seventh minute of the game, Alex MacKenzie started off the Wildcat scoring. Max Riseham kicked through his first conversion of the day to cut the Panther lead to 19-7. Three minutes later Cole Zarcone touched down for his first try of the game. Riseham converted again to make the score 19-12.
In the 12th minute of the match, the Wildcats were able to knot the game at 19 after John Wendling touched down for his first try of the game which was followed by another Riseham conversion.
The Wildcats were able to take the lead and the win in the 14th minute after Zarcone touched down for his second try of the game to give Central their first lead of the game and sealed the win by a score of 24-19.
The Wildcats' first game proved to be a more relaxed contest. MacKenzie started the scoring in the first minute of the match which was followed with a conversion from Marques Fuala'au. The Wildcats didn't take long to add another try. In the fourth minute Noah Wright touched down in the try zone for the second try of the game. Fuala'au added another conversion to his total.
The Mustangs answered back with a try of their own in the sixth minute of the game. Zarcone got in on the scoring in the seventh minute of the game. Jake Szumski followed the try with a conversion to extend the Wildcat lead to 21-7. Szumski wasn't done with one try as he added another one a minute later after a Tresten Keys try.
Central was able to hold the Mustangs to just one try on the day and took the win in game one by score of 28-7.
"Do or die tomorrow and we will have to play with a lot more consistency to get the desired results we want," Coach Thornley said. "I'm proud of the grit we showed in the second game."
The Wildcats take on Grand Canyon University tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. in Tucson, Arizona. With a win, the Wildcats will advance to a game at 1:00 p.m. with their opponent to be announced.
