Both clubs warmed up in the rain and both agreed to begin the match a little earlier than scheduled. So in an "old skool" style we played in the rain. As far as the fans and reserves watching the game, it was uncomfortable, unless you had an umbrella or rain protective gear, but at the beginning of the match, there were 3 fans watching the match. 2 of them came with the referee, and Amber from the UT Dallas Women's Rugby Club. By the end of the match there were more brave fans there to watch and support UT Dallas Rugby,
The match was great to watch, both clubs attacked and defended very well in each other's territory. It was hard hitting and a very well played match. But it was UT Dallas to strike first, a grubber kick into Letourneau's goal was grounded by Seth McMahon in the 24th minute of the match. Brian Martinez converted the Try and UTD took an early lead. The remainder of the first half was back and forth, and LETU managed to put 3 points on the board. But nearing the end of the 1st half, UT Dallas was in Letourneau's red zone and the lads attacked and weren't going to be turned back. It was Alex Wright scoring the Try in the closing seconds of the half and Brian converted it, the half ended UT Dallas 14, Letourneau 3.
The second half was played in a constant down pour of rain that came with the second half. Great play by both teams in the attack and defense, but it was Letourneau that would score a try in the second half but miss the conversion and Alex would slot a crucial Penalty Kick to extend the UT Dallas lead to 17 to 8 and that would be how the match ends.
The line up:
1. Brandon, 2. Otto, 3. Ryan, 4. Precious, 5. Manny, 6. Jonathan, 7. Ashar, 8. Eric, 9. Andrew, 10. Brian, 11. Zach, 12. Seth, 13. Andrew Do, 14. Alex, 15. Joe
Replacements, Jake for Brandon, Kevin for Brian, Abraham for Manny
Very good match played with a lot of heart and determination in sloppy conditions. We have the week leading to Thanksgiving off, and when we get back into class and practice, both the men and women have 1 week to prepare for our final match of the fall 2014 season. Both the guys and girls travel to San Angelo to take on Angelo State University (ASU). This is the ASU Women's first year in the league and the only time we have played them was in a tournament style match in Austin at the beginning of the season. For the record ASU beat the UT Dallas Women, but that was the beginning of the season and the girls didn't really know much. Our girls are better prepared now and plan on playing a very good match against the ASU Women.
The guys match will follow the women's match and in the 2 times ASU has faced UT Dallas, it was UT Dallas that came out on top, but those were different teams back then. Currently ASU is undefeated in league play and pose to be a very good opponent the first weekend of December.
More on this and directions to the match will be posted later in the week.
Happy Thanksgiving to all and go UT Dallas Rugby.