WSC vs. CC 10.25.09

  Flurries of snow breezed in as Western warmed up to take on the Colorado College Tigers. WSC's first 15 consisted of the core of dedicated young players and players new to rugby this season: 1. Cole Fritz (Fr) 2. Rocky Ashby (Fr) 3. Cy Conway (Jr) 4. Clayton Pruitt (So) 5. Christian LaPage (Jr) 6. Daniel Lockridge (Fr) 7. Mario Gomez (Fr) 8. Tyler Hammond (Jr) 9. Quinn Williams (Fr) 10. Pat Martelli (So) 11. Jacob Kimi (Fr) 12. Nate Acrey (Sr) 13. Zach Elder (So) 14. Shane Moran (Sr) 15. Tim Coil (So).

  WSC began the match with a kick off to CC's pack of forwards. Colorado College looked to spread the ball wide and Western managed to match their "15-man" style of play. CC worked the ball to their fly-half consistently and he made the decisions on attack; forcing the ball inside to forwards, or out wide to the speed of their wings.  WSC managed to match-up well, but missed one-on-one tackles exposed some weaknesses and opened up momentum for CC and kept Western on the back foot.  Anxious defensive attack gave CC penalty opportunities, and the Tigers' fullback would not let Western off the hook.  After three consecutive penalty kicks, CC was kept out of the WSC goaline, but down 9-0.

  In the phases that followed, Western's defense and offense were given their first taste of a dirty match. Western's fans picked up on the animosity of the Tigers, and voiced their support for their Mountaineers. The Tigers continued to dive over the ball at the ruck, killing any Mountaineer chance at a fair ball. The Tigers managed two tries conversions to match before half, but not before Western managed some clean and classy phases of forward crashes and backs ball.  At the half, CC lead 23-0.

  Captain Pat Martelli lead his team in a half-time talk, urging his Mountaineers to "leave everything" on the "pitch" (field). In the half that followed, WSC managed to show something lacking most of the season: heart. CC's "unorthodox" style of play made the Mountaineers play together as a team. Early in the half, CC lost a player to the sin-bin for repeatedly coming into the rucks from the side. With a man-up advantage, Western's Nate Acrey sidestepped and plowed his way through the Tiger defense to put up WSC first try of the game. Martelli's conversion attempt failed, but Western was not finished.

  In the kickoff and phases that followed, WSC's Pat Martelli followed his passes in support and looped his way to a try.  His conversion put WSC in reach of an upset at 12-23, but CC continued their pattern of play and managed another try and conversion.  Late in the game, WSC saw chances of hope in Jacob Kimi's break to the outside for a 40 meter run, but was tackled out of bounds short 10 meters from the goal. The Tiger defender made sure he gave Kimi an elbow to the face after the tackle, and Kimi was quick to show the Tiger's center that he was not a punching bag.  Both teams converged on their players while the Western fans voiced their disdain for the Tigers' actions. With some handbags thrown, and verbal exchanges, both teams were eventually calmed by the referee and Kimi was given the title-prize of a yellow-card and a 10 minute break in the sin-bin. Western went on to punch the ball in through big John Henaghan and ended the game with a loss at 17-30.