Since the guys took the field first, I'll start with them. The match kicked off 18 minutes late due to the fact that MSU was short players and waiting to see what they had and needed. In the end, UT Dallas gave MSU 4 players to begin the game with, Luke Lewis, Justin Thompson, Michael Shamoun and Joe Conover. These 4 guys played very well for MSU against their own team mates (they didn't want to do this, but they accepted it and played). MSU was very grateful for the fact that they were able to play.
The Lineup:
1. JonathanHolms, 2. Conner Heaton, 3. Maika Mauga, 4. John Bradshaw, 5. Weston Hearne, 6. AJ Paradowski, 7. Elliot Zieba, 8. Chris Logan, 9. Andrew Whiteis, 10. Brian Martinez, 11. Marc Hudac, 12. Dominic Prestia, 13. Nicky DiCarlo, 14. Graham Horrell, 15. Alejandro Chinchilla
Replacements - Arturo Sifuentes for 11, Ben Bales for 7, Jake Pesnell for 8, Reese Willoughby for 10, Ryan Lawton in for 1, Otto Wilkinson in for 2, Alex in for 13, Daniel Eljuri in for 5, Mohammad Nadeem in for 6, Matt Bolivar in for 9MSU's forward pack was very much a formidable opponent as they usually are and both packs played very well on the day, but it was the complete efforts of the UT Dallas Rugby Club in their play that was the difference. UTD was able to mount an attack often and with a punch. We used the entire field and did some really good things, but all while these good things were going happening, we still managed to pull off a few mental errors (something we'll continue to work on).
Scoring came often, Trys were scored by the following players: Dominic (2), Elliot, Nicky, Alex, Marc, Daniel, Ben, Arturo all scored a Try each, Brian converted 3 of the Trys and Andrew converted 1. The score at the end of the first half UT Dallas 31, MSU 5.
In the second half a number of replacements were made in the efforts of getting new players game time experience, since the game was basically in the books. Those replacements played very well and it was a good thing for all players involved. The final score of the match, UT Dallas 55, MSU 17.
The second match of the day, pit the UT Dallas Women against the Sam Houston St. Women (SHSU). This match kicked off on time and was since SHSU could not field a 15's side, it was agreed that we would play 10's and 25 minute halves.
While SHSU plays in the Lonestar Conference, they are a relative new team but have been around off and on for the past 5 years of so. It was that experience that was the difference in the women's game.
The Line up:
1. Melissa Gilbreath, 2. Elyse McCoy, 3. Guadalupe Villanueva, 4. Lisa Sturm, 5. Veronica (Natch) Rodriguez, 9. Alyssa Gelman, 10. Rachel Willauer, 11. Judit Guzman, 12. Stephanie Marek, 14. Marie Imperial
Replacements in the 2nd half: Victoria Wobser for Natch, Laura in for Elyse, Emily in for Stephanie
The women played very well for their second 10's match and like it was stated earlier, it was SHSU's experience that led them to the victory. These women didn't give up, they continued to play hard, they tried to score as often as they could, they continued to tackle SHSU players every chance they had or could. But it wasn't going to be the fairy tale ending like the men had, your UT Dallas Women were beat by SHSU 79 to 17.
Trys scored by UT Dallas Women: Alyssa, Stephanie and Marie all ran in one Try. Alyssa was able to convert one of those Trys.
Next weekend Colorado College is bringing their Men and Women to Texas to play a series of matches. They will play Texas Tech (Men and Women on 10/25/13) then drive to Richardson to take on UT Dallas and a guest UT Austin in a series of matches. This was originally set up for the men of both schools to get valuable experience against each other, but it grew into involving the women to get that same experience.
This coming weekend (10/26/13) will be a full smorgasbord of Rugby, with the following schedule:
3:00pm - UT Austin Women vs Colorado College I
3:40pm - UT Dallas Women vs TCU Women (1)
5:00pm - UT Dallas Women vs TCU Women (2)
5:15pm - UT Dallas Men vs Colorado College Men
5:55pm - UT Dallas Women vs TCU Women (3 if needed)
7:00pm - UT Dallas Women vs Colorado College Women
For the men, a match like this could be valuable if/when we advance on to the "Cowboy Cup", the women of UT Dallas should get their first opportunity to play a 15's match. This weekend should be one of the best weekends to watch rugby in the Richardson area since last spring