Despite playing with a man advantage for 30 minutes courtesy of three Maryland yellow cards, Wake Forest was unable to find an offensive rythym for the second weekend in a row and lost 33-10 to a skilled Terrapin side.
Wake found temselves on the defensive for most of the first 20 minutes, as Maryland played inside Wake's 22 and kept repeatedly threatening the Wake Forest line with nifty backline plays orchestrated by their talented flyhalf. Eventually Wake's defense broke and Maryland went in for a score in the corner to take a 5-0 lead. A few moments later, playing with advantage on a Wake penalty, Maryland went in under the posts to stretch the lead to 12-0. To score stayed that way as Wake began to play some better rugby, but another linebreak by the Maryland centers stretched the lead to 19-0. Wake Forest had the lion's share of possession and momentum in the last 10 minutes of the half, and finally got on the board through a Johnny McMurray penalty goal after a Terrapin was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements. The half ended 19-3 with Wake showing signs of life and looking to take advantage of a strong tailwind in the second half.
The second forty began with Maryland's restart not going ten meters, but from the ensuing center scrum the Terrapins stole the put-in and strung together a few quick phases and were in under the posts to kill any momentum Wake had and go up 26-10. Wake managed to play some decent rugby for the remainer of the match, and freshman wing Franco Cima scored a well-earned try to bring Wake to within 26-10. But penalties, turnovers, and general lack of structure prevented the Demon Deacons from ever really threatening to get back in the game. Maryland's outside center went in under the posts near full time, and the final was 33-10 to Maryland. The Terrapins now move to 1-1 in conference play, while Wake falls to 0-2.
Wake will next be off for the next two weekends, before facing a formidable Virginia Tech team in Blacksburg on March 26. The game is a must win for Wake if they are to have any shot at playing for the ACRL Championship.
Wake Forest Varsity vs Maryland
1. Ty Pierce, So.
2. Jeff Millar, Jr. (Chris Ryan, Jr. @ 40)
3. Nick Conte, Jr.
4. Christian Jewett, Sr.
5. Brendan Shea, Jr.
6. Matt McCurdy, Fr.
7. Ross Hilton, Sr.
8. Hunter Lostan, Sr.
9. Will Hank, Jr.
10. Ben Cohen, Jr. (Rob Kelley, So. @ 62)
11. Liam McIntyre, Fr. (Franco Cima, Fr. @ 40)
12. James Watson, Fr.
13. Steve McMillen, Sr. (Drew Mehrmann, So. @ 65)
14. Sean Barrett, Fr.
15. Johnny McMurray, So.
Tries: Cima
Con: McMurray
Pen: McMurray
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