The Mustangs showed a lot of skill this past Saturday with the second and third sides posting up great numbers and showing good force against experienced opponents in the annual 49er Collegiate Rugby Tournament.
There was a lot of opportunity for new players to get a feel for the game as there were two full sides competing in the tournament allowing players the chance to be a part of six games running 20-minute halves.
The coaches were happy with the teams display. “We saw a lot of good things and a lot of good combinations,” coach Peter Madonna said about Saturdays performance, “we know what we need to work on now.”
Cal Poly second side started the tournament off with a very closely fought loss in a game against UC Irvine. Next they matched up with Long Beach for a convincing shut out win against the 49ers. The third match was a devastating loss against USD in the Semi-Final. The game came down to the final seconds with Cal Poly driving and USD holding strong defensively. Cal Poly’s seconds ended the Division 1 tournament in 3rd place.
The third side also played strong Saturday ending the Division 2 tournament in 2nd place. Their first game was a hard fought win against UC Irvine’s second side team. Next game was a defensive battle that went a full 40 minutes with no score for either team and ended in a tie. The Semi-Final was much the same as the game before with the game ending 5-5, but the tournament rules sent the game into overtime penalty kicks. Cal Poly made 1 kick to send them into the Division 2 final against Occidental. The final was a well played game by Occidental who dealt the Poly third side their first loss of the day.
Cal Poly’s 1st and 2nd sides (with a possible 3rd side game) will match up against UC Santa Barbara this Sunday at 3:00 in Santa Barbara. For directions to UCSB, follow the tab in the above menu.