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San Diego State University
The Aztecs pushed their league record to 4-0 by convincingly beating traditional league rivals Cal Poly 45-0 in their home opener.
In front of a large crowd on the Aztecs new campus field, the Aztecs put in a strong performance that led to a 19-0 half time lead, that ended in a 45-0 shutout. Center Duncan Kelm led the way with a personal tally of 20 points, but a team effort saw the Aztecs overcome the Mustangs from Cal Poly to keep a perfect record half way through the league season.
The Aztecs struck quickly with 3 tries in the first half by Alex Ross, Duncan Kelm, and Ryan O’Conner, two of which Duncan Kelm converted. The Aztecs used a breeze at their back to control field position. However, the second portion of the first half saw the Aztecs effort and performance stutter and the half winded down at 19-0 Aztecs. In the second half a renewed Aztec effort saw four Aztecs crash over the line, Chris Bredeson twice, and Alex Ross and Duncan Kelm each scoring their seconds. Cal Poly also managed to use the wind to their advantage, and much of the second half was played inside the Aztec 22. However, the Aztec defense was resilient, repelling Mustang attacks near the line to hold onto the shutout.
For the Aztecs, the deep 3 looked especially dangerous, but it was an overall team performance in which all contributed. Head Coach Matt Sherman was especially pleased with the defensive effort, ‘To shut out a tough league opponent is always something that we want to celebrate. We’re happy to be in a strong position in the league, but we’ll turn our attention now right back to the things that we need to improve and getting better. In particular, the scrums this week were a concern, and we’ll want to continue to improve and playing more rugby in the other teams half of the field. Nonetheless, I feel this was another step forward for us, and we’ll need to continue in that direction.’
In the B Side match, the Aztecs produced a 13-5 match winning performance. The match was fairly stop start, and an intercept try to Cal Poly late in the match was the only blemish on the day to the Aztecs stout defense. Still, the offense often sputtered short of the line, and the side will attempt to pick up its attacking prowess going forward. Tries by Marco Segura and Andrew Hinkle paved the way to victory.
The Division 3 team also secured their first victory of the season with a strong performance over Westmont College.
The Aztecs return home again next weekend on 2/6 in a rematch of the previous weeks league match with the University of Arizona who come off a strong performance and defeat of UCSB. The day will feature another full day of rugby at Field ENS 700 on the middle of campus:
11am: SDSU Division 3 vs. UCSD
1 pm: SDSU vs. Cal Poly (1st Side)
3 pm: SDSU vs. Cal Poly (2nd Side)
SDSU 45, Cal Poly 0
Min 4: Ross Try
Min 12: D. Kelm Try, D Kelm Conversion
Min 17: O’Conner Try, D. Kelm Conversion
Half: SDSU 19, Cal Poly 0
Min 41: Bredeson Try
Min 50: Bredeson Try, D. Kelm Conversion
Min 60: Ross Try, D. Kelm Conversion
Min 74: D. Kelm Try, D. Kelm Conversion
Final: SDSU 45, Cal Poly 0
1 Brenden Purcell ; 2 Jeff Sparks; 3 Darrell Honaker 4 Alex Main; 5 Anton Mironov; 6 Dave Buboltz; 7 Mike Shea; 8 Tanner Kouba; 9 Jamie Purcell (Captain); 10 Ryan O’Connor; 11 Chris Bredeson; 12 Jamie Kelm; 13 Duncan Kelm; 14 Mike Hicks; 15 Alex Ross; 16 Morgan Gagel;17 Zach Shapiro; 18 Scott Brown; 19 Tyler Kaushagen; 20 Will Pidd;21 Connor Reed 22 Renzo Garcia
B Side: SDSU 13, Cal Poly 5
Min 20: Turori Penalty
Min 31: Segura Try
Half: SDSU 8, Arizona 0
Min 65: Hinkle Try
Min 72: Cal Poly Try
Final: SDSU 13, Arizona 5
1 Zach Shapiro 2 Devin Keller; 3 Morgan Gagel; 4 Kyle Quirk; 5 Scott Brown; 6 Andrew Hinkle; 7 Tyler Khaushagen; 8 Derrick Broussard; 9 Will Pidd; 10 Andrew Castle; 11 Alex Colla; 12 Conner Reed; 13 Dale Turori; 14 Marco Segura; 15 Renzo Garcia; 16 Adrian Torres; 17 A.N. Other; 18 A. N. Other; 19 Kyle Berchard; 20 Joe Silvestri ; 21 Max Romano; 22 Franky Vasquez |
