Individual Game Recaps Aggies Knock Off St. Mary\\\'s 2/9/2008 Saturday February 9 UC Davis 26-Saint Mary’s College 19 Over the last few years a serious rivalry has developed between the rugby teams of UC Davis and St. Mary’s College. Last year was St. Mary’s turn to shine as they beat the Aggies 3 times, including once in the playoffs. In their first matchup of this season, however, the Aggies were able to prevail in an exciting match that thrilled the Davis crowd. Davis knew coming into the game that they would have to play tight defense or risk the high powered Gaels running all over them. St. Mary’s showed their tremendous speed and skill early when they put the first try down. The Aggies responded when they put several phases together through both the backs and the forwards, culminating with a try by center Chris Buck. St. Mary’s responded immediately, and took advantage of two Davis miscues to put two more tries on the board. At this point things looked discouraging for the Aggies as there was a threat that Gael’s would put the game out of reach as they’d been doing all year. St. Mary’s soon broke another long run, but this was called back due to a penalty and the Aggies were able to take a breath and relax. The halftime whistle blew with the Aggies down three tries to one. Davis came out with great intensity to start the second half. The Aggies kept the ball deep in St. Mary’s territory and were feet from the try line before the ball carrier knocked the ball on. Still, this mistake did not rattle Davis, as they were able to score off the ensuing defensive scrum, turning over procession and going quick to fullback Danny Nolan who touched the ball down. At this point the Aggies turned up the pressure both offensively and defensively, maintaining possession in the St. Mary’s end. The Aggies took a blow, however, when Saint Mary’s broke off a long run. Davis center Tom Warner was sin binned on the next play for a professional foul and the momentum appeared once again to be with the Gael’s. Yet Davis showed great resiliency, stealing the Gaels’ ball and running wide with it. Speedy wing Tyler Harrison scored the third Davis try of the day with a great run made possible by strong team support. At this point the Davis backs were feeling quite confident, even with their defensive captain in the sin bin. They ran a play normally designed for two centers with wing Tarick Abu-Aly filling in for Warner. This play resulted in Harrison once again breaking free and feeding Nolan who was able to beat the last man for the try. Davis was then able to stop an aggressive last charge by the Gaels and hold on for the win. Davis (1-15) Collin Clark, Jacob Litinesky/Dan Hudes, Gus Brown, Levi Ryan, Reid Robinson, Sam Shackleford, Johnny Volan, Mark Miller, John Parshall, Julien Howsepian, Tyler Harrison, Tom Warner, Chris Buck/Jake Mayers, Tarick Abu-Aly, Danny Nolan UC Davis Men's Rugby Club 232 Activities and Recreation Center University of California, Davis 95616 Copyright 2006-2007, Julien Howsepian