In a thrilling match on Saturday in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest was defeated by East Carolina 18-11. ECU, which finished the fall season ranked #17 in the country in Division II by erugbynews.com, came in with a grudge as despite having started the spring season with two straight wins, they were inexplicably dropped from the rankings while Wake Forest made its rankings debut at #24. ECU started strong with two long-range penalty goals from their fullback and early on held a 6-0 lead. Wake cut the lead in half with a penalty goal from flyhalf Tyler Eure, but shortly before the half ECU's forwards punched in a try which was converted. When the whistle blew for the break, Wake trailed 13-3.
Wake Forest came out strong after the break and almost the entire second stanza was played in ECU territory. Wake's offense was far more fluid then the last time these two teams met back in September, but despite numerous line breaks and excellent ball retention, Wake always seemed to be lacking the last pass or last ruck necessary to convert a string of phases into points. With 20 minutes remaining Wake finally managed to touch down, with sophomore flanker Trenton Justice capping off a fantastic effort from the Wake forwards. Eure's conversion sailed wide, and ECU's lead was 13-8. Wake continued to pressure the ECU tryline, once crossing over only to have the ball ruled held up in goal by the referee. With time winding down and Wake desperate for points, flyhalf Eure slotted a drop goal to bring Wake to within two of the Pirates. As the Demon Deacons frantically tried to get in position to win the match, a handling error in the backline near midfield resulted in a loose ball that was scooped up by the ECU #12 who took it into the tryzone to seal the win for ECU.
ECU now moves into sole possession of first place in the conference at 3-0, while Wake is in second place at 2-1. Wake finishes conference play next weekend in Raleigh against 0-2 NC State in a must win match. A victory puts Wake into the South playoffs, while a defeat likely means that they are eliminated from post-season play. ECU finishes its conference play in two weeks against Appalachain St.
Photographer Bob Hebert was at the Wake-ECU match. His photos can be found here:
http://www.pbase.com/bobhebert/wakerugby2008
