Men's rugby season ends after loss

By Nicholas Pinkerton

The Santa Clara men's rugby team came up short in the Pacific Coast Rugby Football Union regional championship game last Saturday, losing to No. 24 Utah Valley State 24-17.

The team, known as Santa Clara University Touring Side, was fresh off a 35-27 semifinal victory against Western Washington University the day before.

SCUTS came into the tournament as the No. 7-ranked Division II team in the nation. In the regular season, they went undefeated in the Northern California Rugby Football Union, granting them a division title.

This was quite the turnaround season for a team who had not made the postseason in several years.

"We went from being the team that everybody saw as an easy victory to the team everyone looked for as the bar to meet," said senior Mitch Ryan.

Santa Clara went into the tournament confident that they could advance to the national quarterfinals.

The Western Washington match had two halves nearly mirror opposites of each other.

In the first half, Santa Clara gave up an early try to Western Washington but dominated for the remainder of the contest.

"We were making some stiff tackles and big hits. Our forwards and our backs were working as one; we were totally interchangeable with the ball," said junior and Club Vice President Patrick Haggerty.

The Broncos suffered another blow in the first half, but it did not occur on the scoreboard.

About 15 minutes in, senior Matt Saldivar was punched in the side of the head by an opponent and had to be taken out of the game, said SCUTS players and Head Coach Chris Kron.

"Obviously, it's something we don't take lightly at all," said Kron.

The player who committed the foul was ejected, and freshman Geoff Hutchinson came off the bench to replace Saldivar.

"I was a little nervous, but I knew what to do because earlier in the year I had to step up against a rival," said the rookie Hutchinson.

Though they were leading by double digits at halftime, the second half was a different story for SCUTS.

Playing in Orem, Utah, at an elevation of over 4,700 feet, they struggled to keep up with the Vikings and found themselves down.

"We just lost our wind," said Haggerty.

But with about five minutes remaining, Santa Clara drove down the field to seal the victory.

In Saturday's game, which would eventually be SCUTS' final game of the season, Santa Clara again began the game on a high note, taking an early 10-0 lead.

After being down 10-7 at the half, Utah Valley State scored three tries to give them a 24-10 advantage. The Wolverines were able to capitalize on costly defensive mistakes.

Santa Clara also missed a kick in the try zone and had another kick blocked, said senior Club President and team captain Salman Shariat.

"We weren't exactly prepared for their defense," added Kron.

Santa Clara recorded another try with about 10 minutes left to cut the lead in half, but time ran out on the team's final drive of the game, and the season came to an end.

"It was a bitter taste after putting a lot of hard work in before going to the 'elite eight,' " said senior Scott Peterson. "That was our ultimate goal, and to have it come short was kind of hard."

Shariat echoed a similar opinion.

"Obviously, we had higher goals, but this time last year, none of us thought we would get this far," he said.

Though they had a bittersweet end to their season, the team has a very positive outlook on their club's future status.

"Overall, it's been a very successful season with much room to grow," said Shariat.

For now, the team will rest until its May 17 annual alumni game, the Father Coz Cup, which is held on Bellomy Field.

Contact Nicholas Pinkerton at (408) 551-1918 or npinkerton@scu.edu.