John Palladino looks at the ball during a UMRFC scrum.
Coming off of a tough loss to WMU, the Wolverines came out with a vengeance, looking to pick up their first win of the spring season.
From the start, Michigan looked strong in their play and started off the scoring in the 2nd minute with a hard run by Kenny Andutan to score. The Wolverines kept the pressure up all game, creating a 59-0 lead at the half. Michigan’s unselfish offensive play led to many scoring opportunities for a great deal of players. Michigan’s offense showed a great deal of patience between phases, and the open field play was highlighted by good decision making that allowed for Michigan to take advantage of Oakland mistakes. Evan Noon showed off his play in the back line, utilizing his good vision of the field and run of play to make great passes that allowed for line-breaks by the backs. John Palladino played a good game from scrumhalf, a new position to him. He distributed the ball well and lent a decisive voice to the Michigan side.
In the second half, a large number of up and coming ruggers were able to get in valuable A-side experience on the pitch. New member Cooper Smart started off his A-side play with a bang by scoring a hat trick in his first game. The freshman from Malibu did so from the fullback position. Michigan maintained their dominance in the second half; however, Oakland managed to pick up two tries of their own off of long runs by their athletic fullback in the 46th and 54th minutes. Conversion kicking for the UMRFC was strong all day despite a very strong wind, making 14 of 17 kicks between Zach Burns and Joel Conzelmann.
The final score of the game was 113-14 for Michigan in a friendly game that got everyone valuable experience.
A side Roster:
1. Ben Shapiro
2. Evan Rourke
3. Brennen Arnett
4. Mike LaCivita
5. Drew Vecchio
6. Kenny Andutan
7. Chening Duker
8. Cole Van Harn
9. John Palladino
10. Joel Conzelmann
11. Chris Padmos
12. Jared Bosma
13. Evan Noon
14. CJ Stock
15. Grady Bridges
16. Jackson Wagner
17. Zach Kendall
18. Nic Bishar
19. Stuart Starkweather
20. Travis Sawyer
21. Zach Burns
22. Christian Mentzer
23. Cooper Smart
24. Sergio Rocha
25. Jesse Fenno
26. Olly Gregerson
27. Ian Etheart
28. Ryan McDonough
29. Kevin Linder
30. Neal Slabberkoorn
Tries: Andutan 2′, Bridges 7′, 14′, 17′, Conzelmann 22′, Stock 26′, LaCivita 29′, Vecchio 36′, Padmos 39′, 64′, Smart 43′, 73′, 78′, Palladino 48′, Mentzer 50′, 70′, Van Harn 67′,
Converions: Conzelmann 2′, 7′, 17′, 22′, 29′, 36′, 39′, Burns 43′, 50′, 64′, 67′, 70′, 73′, 78′
Yellow: Vecchio 57′
Drew Vecchio, Brennen Arnett, and Evan Rourke help to win a ruck for UMRFC.
After the first game, a third half was played to give a few more members of Michigan playing time who hadn’t played in the A-side game. It was a tough game with the Michigan B-side facing an athletic mixed team of OU and Michigan A-side players. The Michigan B-side struggled with tackling these tough, experienced runners. In the end, it was a good learning experience for the B-side players and a fun way to cap off a good day of Rugby. The final score of the game was 51-20 Oakland.
1. Nick Fehrman
2. Jackson Wagner
3. Nic Bishar
4. Sergio Rocha
5. Joe Stevens
6. Jesse Fenno
7. Olly Gregerson
8. Travis Sawyer
9. Ian Etheart
10. Zach Burns
11. Vino Ravichandran
12. Ryan McDonough
13. Ben Clemens
14. Neal Slabberkoorn
15. Mark Borowski
16. Brandon Gardner
17. Cooper Smart
Tries: Sawyer 5′, 24′, Smart 30′, 35′
