Michigan Claims 22-13 Win Over WMU

Two tries and a conversion from Grady Bridges helped Michigan hold off Western Michigan today at North Field. The win also secures a playoff spot for the Maize and Blue.

The game started well with a deep kickoff from Evan Noon. The blue committed a penalty to let WMU out but most of the rugby stayed in Western’s half. At the 9 minute mark, an errant WMU kick allowed for the first score. The counter attack was started by Brandon Kolk who moved the ball to Joel Conzelmann. Conzelmann found Mark Borowski (on for the bloodied CJ Stock) who was able to offload to Grady Bridges for a score under the posts. Bridges converted for a 7-0 lead.

Michigan’s dominance in the scrum allowed the Wolverines to keep the pressure on. Ellis Kolber added a nice break which let Ian Etheart find Dave Hiltzik on the blind side for a score from 20 out. The conversion by Bridges was missed leaving the score at 12-0, 16 minutes in.

U of M started the next sequence with a series of penalties resulting in 3 points from Western at the 21 minute mark. Michigan’s penalties caught up with them again and let Western put in a try with 5 minutes left in the half.

However, Danny DiGregorio helped Michigan steal a ruck from WMU shortly after. James Wilber immediately found Bridges for his second try, bringing the halftime score to 17-8.

The second half started with long phases of play by the men in blue. Handling errors stopped the possessions but mounting pressure allowed DiGregorio to go over following a Bridges break. This was DiGregorio’s first career try. Bridges’s conversion attempt was wide right and Michigan was up 22-8 with 27 minutes remaining.

The urgency in the game started to wain as both sides started committing more errors. Western managed to find the try zone with 15 minutes left off a chip and chase. The conversion was missed, leaving the score to what would be the final of 22-13. Western was kicking often now to make territorial gains while Michigan used the ball in hand to run back at them. However, no sequences led to points and the teams settled for the final whistle to be blown.

Michigan-B 29 – Western Michigan-B 10

Michigan’s second team followed course with a 29-10 victory over the Broncos.  Two tries by freshman wing Kevin Cheng led the way.

Michigan’s backline, led by Stu Roche, has been strong all year and didn’t let up today.  They got on the board early with a try through center John Palladino.  5-0 Michigan, 4 minutes in.

Cheng added the first of his two tries 10 minutes later and fullback Mike Comizio posted a try 5 minutes after that.  Roche converted the last to put the score at 17-0 with 20 minutes gone.  The backs were claiming the points but were standing on the shoulders of hard work by the men up front, namely Chris Batdorf-Barnes in the lineout.

A lapse in defense allowed WMU to get on the board before half time.  However, the backs picked up right where they left off and put Cheng away for his second of the day.  Roche again hit the conversion to bring the score to 24-5.

Eventually the forwards got on the board through a tough try by Alan Goldfarb.  Goldfarb, forced into the front row for the game, was the welcome recipient of hard forward work near the goal line.  Roche’s conversion attempt was wide.

WMU added a late try when the result was not in doubt to bring the final tally to 29-10 in favor of the men in blue.

Special thanks to all of the parents, fans, and alumni that came out to our lone home league game this year. Thank you for the help with the meal for both teams after the game.