VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The Central Washington University men's rugby team opened their season with a complete 32-17 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Saturday.
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH TODD THORNLEY
"I'm happy to see the guys not back down to a huge challenge and fight through a tone of adversity today. We were far from perfect but we hung tough and got the job done against a very good UBC side today.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Four Wildcats scored tries on the day: Calvin Liulamaga (1), Tiai Vavao (1), Albert O'Shannessey (1) and Campbell Robb (1).
 
Jac Tregoning nailed two penalties and one conversion while Oliver Cline landed two of his three conversion attempts.
 
An early penalty gifted the Wildcats a 3-0 lead less than four minutes into the match, but less than 10 minutes later, the Thunderbirds landed a penalty kick of their own. The score was 3-3 12 minutes in.
 
Another penalty kick for CWU, followed by a try from UBC put the Wildcats in a four-point hole with a score of 6-10. With less than 10 minutes remaining in the half, the Crimson and Black scored back-to-back tries, taking an 18-10 lead into the break.
 
Early in the second half, the Thunderbirds cut the CWU lead to 18-17. From that point on, it was all CWU. the Wildcats put up 14 more points while holding UBC scoreless for the remainder of the match.
 
UP NEXT
Next weekend, the Wildcats (1-0) have two matches scheduled. On Saturday, Jan. 28, the Wildcats will take on Western Washington at 1:00 p.m. and then battle Trinity Western at 6:00 p.m.