Demon Deacons Rue Missed Opportunities in Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina Tar Heels defeated Wake Forest 29-17 tonight in Chapel Hill in the opening weekend of Atlantic Coast conference play. Missed tackles in the midfield and failure to secure ball in the tackle plagued the Demon Deacons all night and left Wake wondering what could have been.

Wake Forest missed an opportunity to take an early lead as flyhalf Johnny McMurray was just wide on a penalty goal attempt in the opening minutes. UNC had made clear their intentions to run their attack through their centers from the opening whistle and were unlucky not to have scored an early try when the referee adjudged the Tar Heel inside center to have possibly stepped on the dead ball line before touching the ball down for what would have staked UNC to a lead in the first few minutes. UNC got the try a few minutes later, however, as missed tackles allowed UNC in under the posts and gave them a 7-0 lead. Moments later McMurray was true an another penalty attempt and cut the lead to 7-3. Wake's forwards began to assert themselves and a tight multi-phase attack inside the Tar Heel 22 resulted in prop Mat Storck powering over for a try. McMurray's conversion put Wake ahead 10-7. Both teams had scoring opportunities in the remainder of the half, but neither was able to turn pressure into points and the halftime whistle blew with Wake leading by 3.

UNC opened the second half with a sustained attack that culminated in a try in the corner to regain the lead 12-10. Wake Forest dominated the scrum and breakdown for the next twenty minutes, but saw many opportunities go lacking as twice McMurray smartly kicked into space, but the ball unlickily rolled past the dead ball line and gave UNC scrums in Wake territory. Meanwhile, UNC repeatedly turned Wake ball over in the tackle. The Tar Heels were able to extend their lead to 19-10 when their flyhalf sent a deep kick into Wake territory and recovered a fortuitous bounce to go in for the score.

Wake responded well, and after a number of powerful scrums inside Tar Heel territory, #8 Brendan Shea went over for a try. McMurray's conversion brought the Demon Deacons within 2 and Wake had the momentum and looked poised to steal a road win. But on the ensuing restart Wake committed another turnover inside their own 22 and the Tar Heels wasted no time in capitalizing, using their midfield attack to go in under the posts and essentially ice the victory. As Wake pushed hard to get within 7 and at least garner the bonus point, UNC was awarded another penalty which they converted at full time to make the final score 29-17. UNC moves to 1-0 in conference play with 5 points, having secured the 4 try bonus point, while Wake begins the season at 0-1 with 0 standings points.

A disappointed Coach Kane said after the loss, "The game was there for us to win, but we simply didn't execute when we needed to, both offensively and defensively. We knew coming in that their strength was in the midfield and how we handled that defensively would determine the outcome. Unfortunately, as you would expect from a team as well-coached as UNC, they exploited our weaknesses in defensive structure and fundamentals and deserved the victory."

In the JV game, Wake suffered its second loss of the night, falling 14-10. Scrumhalf Will Hank continued his impressive play this spring, directing play extremely well and scoring his 4th try in 3 games this spring. Freshman Jake Marshel scored Wake's other try, while freshman Ted McGuiggan and sophomore Jaime Drewery also had standout performances.

Wake travels to Atlanta next weekend to take on Georgia Tech in what is now a must win game for the Demon Deacons if they hope to have any shot of garnering the ACRL's automatic qualifying bid to the national playoffs. Georgia Tech lost handily at Clemson today, but were undermanned and will have a much stronger side on the field next weekend to face Wake Forest. Kickoff is at 2pm at Silverback Stadium.

Wake Varsity vs North Carolina:

1. Matt Storck, Sr.
2. Jeff Millar, Sr.
3. Nick Conte, Sr.
4. Christian Gutowski, Fr.
5. James Watson. So.
6. Tim Zage, So. (Liam McIntyre, So. @ 45)
7. Rob Elmore, So. (Paul Shumaker, So. @ 30)
8. Brendan Shea, Sr. (c)
9. Jack Zimmerman, So. (Will Hank, Sr., @ 73)
10. Johnny McMurray, Jr.
11. Franco Cima, So.
12. Ben Cohen, Sr.
13. Ryan Tacon, So.
14. Brandon Turner, Sr.
15. Tommy Kinzer, Fr.

Tries: Storck, Shea
Cons: McMurray
Pens: McMurray

Wake Takes Care of Business Against Eagles on the Road

Wake Forest travelled to Fredericksburg, VA for a preseason matchup with the University of Mary Washington Eagles. UMW is a rising rugby power in Virginia and will soon be afforded full varsity status by their University. Wake narrowly escaped Fredericksburg with a win last year and was expecting a stern test from the Eagles prior to the start of ACRL conference play next weekend. This time, however, there was no question about who was the stronger team, as Wake ran away 42-26 winners.

The match opened with Wake putting UMW on its heels and it wasn't long before sophomore center Ryan Tacon went over for the first of his three tries on the day. Junior flyhalf Johnny McMurray slotted the conversion for a 7-0 lead. The Eagles struck back with a converted try of their own to knot the score at 7 and it looked like it would be another closely contested match between the two sides. However, with a stiff wind at their backs, the Demon Deacons dominated the remainder of the first half, running over three more converted tries to put the score at 28-7 at the break. Wake was unlucky not to have put more points on the board, as they struggled with the referee's interpretation at the breakdown and were repeatedly penalized while attacking the UMW tryline.

The second half opened with UMW taking advantage of the wind and pressing the attack. A converted try closed the gap to 28-14, but a McMurray try extended the Wake lead back to 35-14. After a sustained period of pressure inside the Wake 22, UMW scored in the corner to make it 35-19, but Tacon's third try of the day iced the game for the Demon Deacons. UMW got a late intercept try when the result was no longer in doubt to make the final score 42-26.

Wake's JV side followed up the varsity's performance with an impressive victory of its own. Scrumhalf Will Hank lead the Deacs with two tries, while sophomores Drew Ammons, Jaime Drewery, and Franco Cima all notched tries and freshman Jake Marshel scored as well.

On Saturday Wake Forest opens ACRL conference play in Chapel Hill against the University of North Carolina. UNC were the 2011 ACRL Regular Season champions, but lost in the ACRL championship match to Maryland. The Demon Deacons will head to Tobacco Road as heavy underdogs, having been picked by the ACRL coaches to finish in the basement of the conference.

Wake Varsity vs University of Mary Washington

1. Matt Storck, Sr. (c)
2. Jeff Millar, Sr.
3. Nick Conte, Sr. (Jaime Drewery, So. @ 53)
4. Christian Gutowski, Fr.
5. James Watson, So.
6. Tim Zage, So. (Matt McCurdy, So. @ 50)
7. Rob Elmore, So. (Kip Lewis, Sr. @ 70)
8. Brendan Shea, Sr.
9. Jack Zimmerman, So. (Will Hank, Sr. @ 68)
10. Johnny McMurray, Jr.
11. Franco Cima, So. (Andrew Estes, So. @ 72)
12. Ben Cohen, Sr.
13. Ryan Tacon, So.
14. Steven Hemric, So.
15. Tommy Kinzer, Fr.

Tries: Tacon (3), Cohen, Shea, McMurray
Cons: McMurray (6)

Wake Forest 34 Georgetown 30

Captain Brendan Shea wins a lineout against Georgetown

On a cold and windy day in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest defeated Georgetown 34-30 in an exceptionally well-played first game of the season for both teams. The Hoyas rolled up to Poteat Field ranked #23 in the country in Division 2 and beginning their preparation for the Mid-Atlantic D2 Conference playoffs. The Demon Deacons were readying for their second season in the D1-AA Atlantic Coast Rugby League, and looking to improve on a disappointing finish to the fall exhibition season which saw them lose to another highly-ranked Division 2 opponent, UNC-Wilmington (currently ranked #10 in D2).

Wake Forest looked to be the better team from the start, taking the opening kickoff and dominating both possession and territory and jumping out to an early 14-0 lead. Freshman fullback Tommy Kinzer started the scoring with a nifty try under the post, which was followed up by a spectacular openfield run from senior captain and #8 Brendan Shea. Both tries were converted by junior flyhalf Johnny McMurry. But Wake would lose some focus and discipline and a string of penalties allowed the Hoyas to get back into the game with a try from former High School All-American Jordan Maitland and two penalty goals from sophomore scrumhalf Jack Sheridan to make the score 14-11. The Demon Deacons regained composure and extended the lead to 19-11 with a try from senior center Ben Cohen, but also let a number of other first half opportunities slip away as they repeatedly found themselves attacking at the Hoya tryline and coming up empty-handed.

The second half started with two unconverted tries for Wake, one from sophomore scrumhalf Jack Zimmerman and Shea notching his second of the game. With the score 29-11, Wake looked to be comfortably in control of the game. Penalties again began to hurt the Deacs, however, and Georgetown took advantage of a stiff tailwind to continually pin Wake deep in its own end. Maitland proceeded to put the team on his back, and in quick succession the Hoyas dotted down three tries-two from Maitland and one from center Mike Wrotniak. Sheridan converted two of the three and with less than 10 minutes remaining Wake Forest suddenly found itself trailing 30-29.

Georgetown looked to be in good position to take the game, as on the ensuing restart Wake sophomore scrumhalf was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle, meaning the Hoyas would enjoy a man advantage for the rest of the game. The final minutes were played at a frantic pace, as Georgtown tried to retain possession with their powerful forwards and run down the clock, while the shorthanded Demon Deacons pressed to take back the lead. Wake made numerous forays inside the Hoya 22, but mental mistakes and penalties stymied scoring opportunities. With 3 minutes remaining it looked as if Georgetown would ice the game, as their winger scooped up a loose ball around his own 22 meter line and raced untouched down the sideline. But sophomore center Ryan Tacon tracked him down from behind 10 meters from the line and forced a penalty for not releasing. Wake took the quicktap, worked the ball to the opposite sideline, secured a breakdown and then went through the hands the other way to junior wing Wes Bloomer. Bloomer was tackled into touch 10 meters from the line, but managed to toss the ball back infield before going out of bounds. The supporting Wake forwards gathered possession and four tight phases later Zimmerman went over the line to put Wake back in the lead, 34-30 with less than two minutes on the clock. Wake took the restart cleanly and ground down the clock until finally McMurray booted the ball into touch to cap off the dramatic finish.

Given that it was the first game of the spring for both teams, the quality of play was excellent on both sides. While Wake dominated in many phases of the game, the well-coached Hoyas exploited the Demon Deacons weaknesses well and were unlucky not to have come away with the victory. Georgetown should clearly be a favorite to advance far into the Mid-Atlantic Conference playoffs and this game will hopefully be the beginning of an annual fixture between the two teams.

Wake Forest also emerged victorious in the JV game, winning 15-0. Paul Shumaker, Will Hank, and Liam McIntyre led the way for the Demon Deacons, while sophomore prop Jaime Drewery showed well in his rugby debut.

Wake plays another Division 2 Mid-Atlantic Conference foe next weekend as the Demon Deacons travel to Fredricksburg, Virginia to take on University of Mary Washington. UMW and Wake played a close preseason game in 2011, with Wake scoring late to win the contest.

Wake Forest Varsity Lineup vs Georgetown

1. Matt Storck, Sr.
2. Bryce Lambert, So. (Jeff Millar, Sr. @ 58)
3. Nick Conte, Sr.
4. Christian Gutowski, Fr. (Paul Shumaker, So. @ 58)
5. James Watson, So.
6. Tim Zage, So.
7. Rob Elmore, So.
8. Brendan Shea, Sr. (c)
9. Jack Zimmerman, So.
10. Johnny McMurray, Jr.
11. Wes Bloomer, Jr.
12. Ben Cohen, Sr.
13. Ryan Tacon, So.
14. Brandon Turner, Sr.
15. Tommy Kinzer, Fr.

Tries: Kinzer, Shea (2), Cohen, Zimmerman (2)
Conv: McMurray (2)
YC: Elmore

Wake Escapes with Win Over Hoyas

Sophomore scrumhalf Jack Zimmerman scored his second try of the day with 2 minutes remaining to lead Wake Forest to a 34-30 victory over visiting Georgetown University. Wake looked the better team for most of the day and midway through the second half led 29-11. But the resilient Hoyas scored three tries in quick succession in the final 15 minutes to take a 30-29 lead, with two coming from former USA U-19 standout Jordan Maitland. But Wake battled back and despite being down a man after a yellow card to flanker Rob Elmore, the Demon Deacons managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with Zimmerman's try. Full report to follow.

Wake 34
Georgetown 30

Tries: Kinzer, Shea (2), Cohen, Zimmerman (2)
Conv: McMurray (2)
YC: Elmore

Brandon Turner Featured in Rugby Magazine