49er News Articles

Beach Rugby salvages points; Arizona spared blushes as rally falls short

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
CSULB Rugby Webmaster
February 16, 2007

While the men's basketball team, fresh off a big win at Cal State Fullerton a couple of days ago, passed by the CSULB Rugby Field after their afternoon shootaround, they were oblivious to some drama on the pitch. A late 2nd half rally by the Beach fell just short, as Long Beach State fell to Arizona, 32-25.

The Wildcats, who improved to 3-2 (15 points) in SCRFU Division 1 play, won the game through scoring three tries within a span of eight minutes early in the second half after leading precariously 12-8 at the break. Afterwards, the defense bended but didn't break, preserving the victory in spite of a magnificent comeback to salvage points in the loss.

Robert Hughes scored for the cycle again, with a try in the 20 th minute, a penalty in the 32 nd , and a conversion after a try by Paul Irizarry in the 67 th . Other tries for the Beach were scored by Treavor Matsushima (73 rd minute) and Greg Tam (79 th minute).

Long Beach led 8-7 on Hughes' penalty entil stoppage time, where Arizona would take the lead for good.

The reserves saw Long Beach State tie the Wildcats, 17-17.

Long Beach State drops to 8-5, and 1-2 in the SCRFU Division 1 (7 points). They will host the Arizona State Sun Devils on Sunday, February 18, at 12:00 p.m.

Long Beach State	8	17	25
Arizona	12	19	31

SCORING:

1st Half

8' U of A try, conversion good U of A 7 - LBSU 0
20' LBSU try, Robert Hughes, coversion failed U of A 7 - LBSU 5
32' LBSU penalty conversion, Robert Hughes LBSU 8 - U of A 7
40' + 5' U of A try, conversion failed U of A 12 - LBSU 8

2nd Half

52' U of A try, conversion failed U of A 17 - LBSU 8
55' U of A try, conversion good U of A 24 - LBSU 8
60' U of A try, conversion good U of A 31 - LBSU 8
67' LBSU try, Paul Irizarry, Robert Hughes conversion U of A 31 - LBSU 15
73' LBSU try, Treavor Matsushima, conversion failed U of A 31 - LBSU 20
79' LBSU try, Gregory Tam, conversion failed U of A 31 - LBSU 25

RUGBY NOTES

AN OFFICIAL NAME FOR THE RESERVES THAT LEFT HIVES ALL AROUND - Dr. Emyr Williams gave his reserve side a unique nickname: The Killer Bees. It's a play on the colors of a bee, black and gold, and the relation to the colors on the 49er kits, along with the fact that they are the B, or Reserve Gradwe, side. So far, The Killer Bees are providing the sting often, including winning the B Pool Championship at the CSULB Kickoff Tournament last fall.