Wake Earns First Ever ACRL Victory

Johnny McMurray scored 16 of Wake's points against Georgia Tech

It wasn't pretty, and at times was downright ugly, but Wake Forest defeated Georgia Tech yesterday 31-22 for its first win in the inaugural season of the Atlantic Coast Rugby League.

Wake started off the game well and it looked like it would be a blowout. Freshman center Ryan Tacon scored a converted try in the second minute of the game, and senior #8 Hunter Lostan followed up with a try in the corner for a 12-0 lead. But slowly Wake Forest began to lose discipline and abandoned all semblance of structure in their play. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech played a very effective forwards oriented game and bullied in a try to bring the score to 12-5. Sophomore fullback Johnny McMurray struck back with a converted try to extend the lead to 19-5, but Georgia Tech dominated the remainder of the half and powered in two more tries to bring the score to 19-15 at the break.

The second half started off exactly how the first half had started, with solid phase play from Wake Forest leading to a converted try from Tacon, and the lead was extended to 26-15. The Yellow Jackets continued their effective strategy of attacking with their forwards off the base of rucks, and Wake Forest's porous defense allowed the Tech forwards to gain 10-15 meters at a time. Another Georgia Tech try coming off a stolen scrum brought the score to 26-22. The Demon Deacons struck back with a nice try coming from sophomore flyhalf Rob Kelly sending a perfectly weighted kick into the tryzone where it was touched down by McMurray. With Wake's lead at 31-22, the play from both teams deteriorated and the final 10 minutes were filled with knockons, poor tackling and decision-making, and ugly set pieces. Wake prevented GT from scoring with good defense from wing Brandon Turner and then from wing Wes Bloomer, and when the final whistle blew, Wake had held on for the 31-22 win.

"A win is a win, and we definitely needed a win," said Wake Forest head coach Patrick Kane. "But when the guys watch the film, they are going to see that for the most part they played as 15 individuals and not as a team. All credit to Georgia Tech for implementing a game plan that suited their strengths and took advantage of our weaknesses, but the bottom line is that selfishness and lack of discipline from our players allowed this to be a much closer game than it should have been. If we play like this next week against NC State, our winning streak will end at one."

Wake Forest plays NC State next weekend at home. The game will kick off at 1 pm. The Demon Deacons and Wolfpack are both 1-3 and looking to climb up in the ACRL standings. Wake Forest Lineup vs Georgia Tech

1. Ty Pierce, So. (Bryce Lambert, Fr. @ 60)

2. Jeff Millar, Jr.

3. Christian Jewett, Sr.

4. Brendan Shea, Jr.

5. Ross Hilton, Sr.

6. James Watson, Fr.

7. Liam McIntyre, Fr. (Matt McCurdy, Fr. @ 50)

8. Hunter Lostan, Sr.

9. Will Hank, Jr.

10. Rob Kelly, So.

11. Brandon Turner, Jr. (Wes Bloomer, So. @ 75)

12. Ben Cohen, Jr. (Steve McMillen, Sr. @ 60)

13. Ryan Tacon, Fr.

14. Drew Chadwick, Sr.

15. Johnny McMurray, So.

Tries: Tacon (2), Lostan, McMurray (2)

Con: McMurray (3)