Depleted, Youthful Wake Team Bests Longwood 23-19

With an incredible 11 regular first side players unavailable due to injury, the LSAT, and weddings, Wake Forest travelled to Farmville, VA to take on Longwood University, who last year finished #3 in the country in Division III. Starting a lineup that contained 3 freshmen, 10 sophomores, and a lone junior and senior, Wake got out to a slow start, but managed to go into the half trailing only 12-10, with sophomore fullback Perry Salvagne scoring a try and senior captain and flyhalf Tyler Eure scoring a conversion and penalty. Wake's cohesion was much better in the second half and they dominated possession and territory with Eure adding another penalty and junior flanker Timo Kawira scoring two tries. Longwood scored at the death to make the final score 23-19.

The Wake second side defeated Longwood 8-3. Wake's lone try was scored by freshman hooker Matt Storck, while Sophomore Perry Salvagne, running double duty as second side flyhalf, hit a penalty goal.

Next weekend Wake takes on 2007 South Division II Quarterfinalist Georgia Tech in Winston-Salem.

Wake falls to ECU 31-7, B-side posts 10-5 victory

Wake Forest fell to East Carolina 31-7 on Saturday evening in a match that had many positives, but demonstrated that Wake still must improve considerably in order to be successful at the Division II level. An unfocused Wake side gave up converted tries within the first minute of both halves, and despite dominating both possession and territory for much of the match, lacked continuity on offense and managed only a penalty try on the night. Wake's forwards were extremely young and inexperienced (3 freshmen and 3 sophomores) and while they showed tremendous promise by matching the bigger ECU pack physically, they lacked a comprehensive knowledge of Wake's preferred pattern of play and as a result Wake could not string together anything in the way of phase play. The young forwards were not helped any by a very indecisive performance from sophomore scrumhalf Steve Schneider, whose inexperience was also on display against ECU. Wake will get an opportunity to redeem itself against East Carolina in the NCRU tournament at the end of October. By that point the youthful Wake team will have gained valuable on-field experience which will hopefully translate into a different result on the scoreboard.

The Wake B-side defeated ECU's second side 10-5. Sophomore flyhalf JD Harrison accounted for all of Wake's scoring, notching a try, conversion, and penalty, while leading the team superbly both offensively and defensively. Wake's defense was fantastic, with first year backline players Dan Sherman, Dante Merlino, and David Sage combining with freshman forwards Andrew Konopitski and Hunter Lostan to bottle up ECU's offense.

Wake will next be in action next weekend in Farmville, VA where they will take on Longwood University, one of last year's Division III Final Four participants.

Wake Forest Past Beats Wake Forest Present; Wake Forest Present Rebounds to Beat UNC-Greensboro

Wake Forest Rugby Alumni defeated the current Wake Forest team 38-0, in a 60 minute match. Alumni tries were scored by Pat Kane, Greg Wagner, Hien Dinh Nguyen, Evan Woods, Dave Buckingham, and Scott Adams. Kane converted 4 of the 6 tries. Alumni who did not make the scoresheet, but who played fantastic rugby, were Justin Edwards, Warren Pierce, Adam Blincoe, Rusty Hedrick, Acilleas Patounas, and Jordan and Joshua Weiss. The alumni side was rounded out by soon-to-be alumni Owen Field, Dinesh Kirpalani, and Dave Taveira.

After the pasting by the more experienced alumni side, Wake regrouped and ran all over UNC-Greensboro, winning 43-7. A mixed first and second side scored seven tries, with freshman fullback Drew Chadwick notching a hat-trick in only his second ever game. Tries were also scored by freshman prop Matt Storck, senior flyhalf Tyler Eure, senior flanker Owen Field, and sophomore center Michael Daniels. Wake was able to put together a much more complete performance this week than last week against Guilford. The return of inside center Mike Wills solidified the backline, while the forwards were bolstered by the return of hooker Mike Duffy.

Wake will next be in action at East Carolina next Saturday night.

More Alumni Match Info

The new jerseys that were supposed to be ready for the alumni match are delayed and will not be here until next week. All recent alumni are asked to bring their jerseys so that the alumni can wear the stripes and the A-side will wear the blacks. The second side will also be wearing the stripes against UNC-G.

ALUMNI MATCH DETAILS

This weekend's alumni match will kick off at 12pm on Saturday on Poteat Field. The match will be followed by Wake Forest's second side facing off against UNC-Greensboro at 2pm. When all the rugby is finished, there will be a social event at a location to be announced. Any alumni who have questions should contact Patrick Kane at pmkane78@aol.com.

Wake Falls to Guilford 20-18 in Season Opener

After UNC-Wilmington inexplicably and inexcusably cancelled their two scheduled matches with Wake Forest on Thursday afternoon, Wake was left with only one opponent for its 3 sides on Saturday. Guilford College traveled to Winston-Salem for a 3pm kickoff. The teams agreed to a 3-30 minute period format so that Wake could get as many players playing time as possible. Wake began the match with close to a full stregnth side and expected to run rampant for the first 30 minutes. However, early season rust and a great performance from a much improved and well-drilled Guilford team resulted in Guilford having the run of play in the first 30 minutes and when the whistle sounded Wake had only a 10-3 lead, all of Wake's scoring coming compliments of flyhalf Tyler Eure who scored a try, conversion, and penalty. Wake substitiuted a number of second side players in for the second period and Guilford continued to look the better side. A penalty by replacement flyhalf JD Harrison and a try from hooker Peter Rice brought Wake's lead to 18-3, but then a Guilford back scored a tremendous intercept try which was converted to bring the score to 18-10 at the close of the second period. In the third period Wake blooded a number of new players and the more experienced Guilford team had their way, scoring 2 unconverted tries while Wake could muster no offense whatsoever. When the final whistle blew Guilford had won the day at 20-18.

In all it was a positive day of rugby. While Wake is clearly hampered by the 7 A-side regulars who are either injured or abroad, the newer players gained valuable experience against a Guilford team that has come a very long way from the team that last year was losing to Wake's second side. Close to 20 brand new players took the field for Wake on Saturday and showed a great deal of potential, while the veterans saw that they need to do alot of work to get back to the level at which they are used to competing.

Next weekend is homecoming, and Wake's first side will take on the Wake Forest Rugby Alumni, while the second/third sides will be in action against UNC-Greensboro.