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UTAH SLOWS DOWN CAL POLY IN WINDY CONDITIONS

January 21, 2012

Mesquite, NV - After a week off, The University of Utah Rugby team resumed play this weekend in Mesquite, Nevada against Cal Poly. The Utes came away with a solid 36 to 5 victory. The Utes were led on offense by scrum half Don Pati with 3 tries on the day.

Both teams took a minute to get started. Utah pressured Cal Poly on offense but were unable to score early in the first half. The first score of the game came at around the 19 minute mark when the Utes won their scrum and got the ball out to the backs. Trevor Trowbridge, on the crash, found his way inside the try line. The Cal Poly defense remained strong throughout the first half of play. The second score came off a Utah scrum on the Cal Poly 5 meter line. Alex Muehle picked the ball off the back of the scrum, and off loaded it to Don Pati for his first of 3 trys. The last score of the half came when Utah had a scrum at the Cal Poly 22 meter line. Alex Muehle off the back of the scrum took it past the defense for the score. The Utes ended the first half with a 15 - 0 lead.

"We didn't get off to the start we were hoping for, we left some points on the field. Credit to Cal Polys defense for playing us tough and keeping us infront of the try line. We had our chances but we didn't finish." said Utah match day captain Scott Metcalf

The second half resumed on a more positive note for the Utes. Not soon after the break, the Utes found themselves on the Cal Poly 10 meter line. Utah won the scrum and the ball circulated from Don Pati to Tonata Lauti to Mote Houma on a nice strong run for the score. With a successful conversion on a very windy afternoon, the Utes had extended their lead to 22 - 0. Moments later after some loose play, Cal Poly kicked the ball out of bounds. Utah took a quick line out and found themselves in open play. After a couple of phases Tonata Lauti broke the defensive line and hit Don Pati in support for a try. The last Utah score of the match came off of a Cal Poly turnover. The Utah forward pack controlled the ball very well in the maul. Soon after, the ball was delivered to Tonata Lauti, who on the cut back, broke the defense and passed it back to Pati who ran in for his score putting Utah up 36 to 0. Cal Poly hung in there the entire game and did not let up. Toward the end of regulation they capitalized on a Utah turnover and took it in for the score. Missing the conversion in windy conditions, that brought the final score to Utah 36 Cal Poly 5.

Utah head coach Blake Burdette was happy with the effort on the day. "Cal Poly was a very physical team and they put us under a lot of pressure. The weather was a bit erratic so it made the game a little sloppy, but I was happy the effort at the end of the day. That being said we have a couple of tough ones next week and will have to be a lot better if we want to have a chance to be in either game."

In the reserve game prior, Utah came out on top 61 - 5 with strong performances from Snyder (3 trys), Wallace (2 trys), Thomas (2 trys), and Wilding, Hafen, Na'oupu, Kyle all scoring once.

Utah Rugbys next matchs will take place in Northern California. The Utes will square off against St. Mary's on Friday, January 27th. Then on Saturday, January 28th, Utah will play the 2011 Men's Club Champion, San Fransico Golden Gate.

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Team vs Cal Poly

1. Petersen, 2. Shepherd, 3. Vickery (Mostyn @ 40) 4. Quigley (Hogan @ 50), 5. Metcalf (c), 6. Juszczak 7. James, 8. Muehle (Klc @ 75), 9. Pati, 10. T. Lauti, 11. Harris, 12. Houma, 13. Trowbridge 14. L. Lauti 15. Christensen

Utah 36

Tries: Pati 3, Trowbridge, Muehle, Houma

Conversions: T. Lauti 3

Penalties: none

Cal Poly 5

Tries: T Leacox

Conversions: None

Penalties: None

Halftime: Utah 15 Cal Poly 0

Nick Mostyn Carries the Ball for Utah (Scott Sine Photo)

THE UTES LOOK TO IMPROVE AFTER WEEK OFF

January 19, 2012

Salt Lake City, UT – After the week off from playing any games, the Utah Rugby team will look to build off their 51-0 victory over UCSB on January 7. The Utes will take on Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Saturday January 21 in Mesquite, NV in what should be a very competitive match.

Cal Poly is coming off of impressive fall campaign and have continued that this January by destroying local men’s club from San Luis Obispo 79-7 and then following that up against rival UC Santa Barbara last Friday with a 31-17 victory. The Mustangs will try to get their forwards going early and will rely on a physical game upfront led by their captain and No. 8 Dave Schaefer.

“Cal Poly has always had a solid program and if we don’t match their physically early, we could be in for a long afternoon,” said senior lock Scott Metcalf.

This may be a strength verse strength game as the Utes forwards are coming off a great performance against UCSB led by loose forward Alex Muehle. Muehle scored 3 tries in the victory and was very effective around the breakdown. “Alex has a great work ethic and that is why he has been successful. We will look for our backs to be a bit more active with the ball this week and put them under some pressure. It’s early in the season so any improvements we see in any phase of the game will be a plus,” said assistant head coach Rob Kingsford.

The last meeting between Utah and Cal Poly was in 2009 in San Diego, CA, was a hard fought contest that saw the Utes to a 26-12 victory.

The Utes and the Mustangs will kick off first with the reserves taking the field at 11 AM PST/12 PM MST followed by the First XV match at 12:30PM PST/1:30 PM MST.

Utah Starting XV Reserves