Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

Rugby splits games in California Invitational

The Arizona Wildcats split their two non-conference matches last weekend in the California Invitational in Berkeley, Calif.

On Saturday, the Wildcats (8-4 overall, 6-1 in the SoCal Conference) were surprised by a Dartmouth team that Arizona had never faced. Dartmouth defeated the Wildcats, 29-15.

"They played a 100 percent better than I expected," head coach Dave Sitton said. "They were very good and deserved to win on the day."

On Sunday, though, the Wildcats came back and defeated the Oregon Ducks 34-17.

"On Sunday, everyone just played a good game," Sitton said. "I consider the weekend a great success."

In the first game of the tournament, Dartmouth stunned Arizona with outstanding tackling and hard running.

Arizona hurt itself by committing 26 turnovers.

"We just failed to execute," Sitton said. "We did not have practice for six days because of Spring Break, and we were not sharp."

Arizona scored tries by sophomore Dan Duncan and freshman David Wood, but it was not enough as the Green Wave defeated the Wildcats in a poor played game.

On Sunday, the Wildcats looked like a different team.

"The intensity level was surprisingly different," Sitton said.

The Wildcats opened the game with two quick tries by Duncan in the first five minutes of action. Both tries were converted by junior Rodd Penney.

The Wildcat forwards dominated the rest of the game and capitalized on strong running by fly-half Penney, and centers, freshman Joe Schmidt and Duncan.

The Wildcats were without juniors Chris Kron and Josh Allen. Kron is competing in a tournament in Hong Kong, and Allen is out for another week with a bad ankle.

The host California Golden Bears, who are the defending National Champions, beat Oregon 80-15 and Dartmouth in the championship game 60-25 to win their event.

Arizona has already qualified for the National Collegiate Championships in Annapolis, Md. on April 15-16.