It was a great Saturday for rugby, and there were a bunch of games with results that had hard felt implications. At the top of the league going into the weekend, there sat our Wolfpack, USC and UNC. All three teams had equal chances to end up on top of the league after the weekend, while UNC and USC played head to head on UNC’s undersized field. The Wolfpack took on ECU, who for the past two years, were the division 2 team to beat. The Wolfpack went into the game with confidence though, since they had faced the very young ECU team just the previous semester for the state tournament, and had won by a large margin of 31-3. The Wolfpack also entered this game with high confidence levels since they were sitting at the top of the league with two division one school with a strong record of 3-0-1. Despite the feeling of invincibility entering the match against ECU, the Wolfpack put their ego’s aside and took the field as they would any other team in the league. In our tight league, we know that on a good day, it’s any teams game.
The first half started off fast for the Wolfpack, with their first try being placed under the posts by wing Bryan Maxwell. This quick score allowed the wolfpack to feel too comfortable though, and ECU answered shortly afterwards to bring the game to near even once again. After a short talk in the try zone, state refocused and put another try up on the boards, this one lead by Phillip Burcal from a penalty play. NC State had many opportunities, although mistakes largely due to the Pirates defense denied the Wolfpack some open opportunities. To finish off scoring for the half, outside center Brandon Mosiman ran a crash ball off of Will Teague to slice through the Pirate’s defense and directly under the posts.
Overall the coaching and leadership of the Wolfpack was largely unhappy with our missed opportunities on defense and offense, and after a good halftime accessment, they were ready to start swinging again. Scoring this half happened quickly for the Pack, and again was lead by Bryan Maxwell who picked off a poor pass from ECU and ran half the length of the field for a try under the posts. Largely, the rest of the scoring from NC State was due to their athleticism and capitalizing off of the Pirate’s mistakes. ECU put up a few more scores in the match, showing that they never quit, but not enough to take the 46-19 victory from the Pack.
The man of the match was named Bryan Maxwell for his explosive play for the Wolfpack, starting us off with a bang in both the first and second half. The Pack take on Clemson in two weeks, in the game which will decide the winner of the CRL. USC beat UNC this same day, therefor it will be between USC and NC State to determine the winner, and both teams face Clemson to determine thier fate. Let’s wish the Wolfpack some good luck on the road, as a bonus point will seal the deal, and NC State will become the first CRL champs.
Match report by: Phillip Burcal
Starting Fifteen
1 Mark Addison
2 Steven Bahnar
3 Abe Harman
4 Matt Daniel
5 Aaron McLean Captain
6 Phillip Burcal
7 Matt Pace
8 Andrew Birch
9 Criag Maxwell
10 Robbie Dow
11 David Hunt
12 Will Teague
13 Brandon Mosiman
14 Bryan Maxwell
15 Greg Hesler
16 Tim Vinick sub @53 mins
A side scoring
Will Teague: 1 try, 1 penalty kick, 4 conversions, 16 points
Bryan Maxwell: 2 trys, 10 points
Phillip Burcal: 1 try, 5 points
Brandon Mosiman: 1 try, 5 points
Tim Vinick: 1 try, 5 points
Dave Hunt: 1 try, 5 points
A side scoring totals
Will Teague: 1 try, 8 conversions, 7 PK, 42 points
Brandon Mosiman: 5 trys, 25 points
Brandon Mosiman: 5 trys, 25 points
Bryan Maxwell: 4 trys, 20 points
Greg Hesler: 2 trys, 1 drop goal, 13 points
Matt Daniels: 1 try, 5 points
Matt Pace: 1 try, 5 points
Matt Daniels: 1 try, 5 points
Matt Pace: 1 try, 5 points
Phillip Burcal: 1 try, 5 points
Tim Vinick: 1 try, 5 points
Dave Hunt: 1 try, 5 points
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