West Coast Prevails

The national rankings saw Cal Poly climb to #6 after a spectacular win last night against the visiting Penn State Nittany Lions. Even with a varied starting lineup, it was one of the more exciting games of the season and remained tight until Cal Poly pulled away in the final ten minutes of the match. The Mustangs started out well, scoring their first two trys early, complements of Outside Center Jeff Van Meter and Wing Jared “Smiley” Gamm. Gamm scored his try after diving on a well-placed grubber kicked by Fly Half Joe Malm. The Lions slashed back, however, and started utilizing their powerful back line to run through holes in the Mustang defense, resulting in a few trys scored against the ‘stangs. Yet Poly answered back with an incredible try scored by Eight man Alex Murchison, who literally grabbed a Lion-kicked ball out of the air and sprinted in for the long score. The forward pack slammed in one more before half time, scoring together as they mauled into the try zone. The score going into half remained close at 23-17.

An even more varied playing squad entered the second half due to a few Poly injuries. A back-and-forth scoring rally ensued which kept the game close until the final ten minutes. Second half players that made a noticeable impact included Inside Center Stu Sharpe, Eight man Ryder Ross, and Fullback Ryan Kaut. Poly really came together and started pressing hard on defense, disallowing the Lions backline from taking the ball at pace any longer. Second half trys were scored by Murchison, Van Meter, and Gamm, which gave them two each for the day. Last night’s game witnessed great plays, solid skills and some seriously big hits. We thank all that came out to support us. Poly's last league game of the season will be held this Saturday, March 15th, at 1:00 pm at the Cal Poly Sports Complex against University of San Diego.

Also held this weekend is the classic and annual Alumni Game, which will be played immediately following the Cal Poly vs. USD game. The alumni game gives us as players the opportunity of meeting and playing against those that are responsible for creating and continuing the great legacy of this program. It also gives you, as alumni, the opportunity to show us that you “still got it” on the playing field and to teach some of the younger guys the “old-school” rules of rugby. We look forward to seeing everyone out there this Saturday at 3:00 for the classic Alumni Game.