The Arizona men's club rugby team notched its first win of the year with a 44-19 victory over Arizona State Saturday morning at Estevan Park.
The Wildcats (1-2) used their size and speed advantages to control much of the game and extend their 20-year win streak over their instate rivals.
"We executed well," said senior Justin Kunz. "Overall, it was a solid win."
Although Arizona dominated most of the game, never falling behind the Sun Devils, a few costly mistakes allowed ASU to score in three tries.
Arizona head coach Dave Sitton said the preparation of his squad was much better this weekend than in Arizona's previous two losses, but the team still struggled with turning the ball over and not capitalizing on scoring chances in ASU territory.
"We possibly left 30 points out there by turning it over," said Sitton.
"Knowing when to pass and when not to pass is probably our biggest problem," said Kunz. "That kind of hurt us today."
Arizona's backs led the way, scoring all 44 points. Wildcat players were able to get free multiple times and outrun Sun Devil defenders, leading to Arizona spending much of the game time in Sun Devil territory.
"It was a hard, physical game," Kunz said. "It was basically a track meet out there."
Arizona jumped out to an early 24-0 lead to begin the game, but an errant pass led to the Sun Devils' first points of the game on the final play of the half, closing the gap to 24-5 after a missed kick-after try.
The win over ASU marked the end of the Wildcats' fall season and was also the final game for UA senior captain Pat Reedy. Sitton said the loss of Reedy because of winter graduation will be a big void for the team to fill come spring when the team resumes play Jan. 23.