Michigan played MSU at 7:30pm on Friday October 6th in the pouring rain at home. The wolverines came out hard, but were unable to get anything past Little Brother. At one point in the game Eoin Sansevero had the ball in the try zone but supposedly the try was held up. Ultimately a well fought but tough loss for the wolverines. Final score: 0-26.
Roster:
1: Alex Carson
2: Lyric Kleber
3: Davis Grimm
4: Ben Cotsarelis
5: Jamie Demers
6: Travis Dantzer
7: Ian Kwant
8: Nate Orlowski
9: Jordan Perez
10: Guy Burke
11: David Caputo
12: Eoin Sansevero
13: Nate Fisher
14: Colin Walters
15: Pierre Flin
16: Connor Jones
17: Jake Bodner
18: Will Biel
19: Jake Bailey
20: Justin Malin
21: Liam Clancy
22: Pierce Hourihane
23: Brandon Walter
On October 13th the wolverines arrived in Minneapolis for their game the next day against the University of Minnesota. Kickoff was at 1pm on a warm but overcast day. Michigan started off with some strong defense and within the first 5 minutes scored a try after a well executed maul off of a lineout. Jamie Demers put the ball down for the score. Kick was good. 7-0 wolverines. Shortly after, Minnesota was able to score a try after Minnesota got a penalty in Michigan’s red zone. Kick was no good. 7- 5 wolverines. For the next 15 minutes or so the wolverines played back and forth rugby (punctuated by more than a few scrums). Most of this time was played on Minnesota’s half of the field but Michigan wasn’t able to capitalize until the 24th minute when Guy Burke saw a gap in the defense and ran it in for the try. Justin Malin kicked the conversion for 2 more points. 14 – 5 Michigan. Minnesota capitalized on another maul penalty and was able to bring the ball in for a try off of a penalty kick. Conversion was no good, 14 – 10 Maize and Blue. The rest of the half remained scoreless. Six minutes into the second half Michigan faced its first yellow card (Ben Cotsarelis) for not coming through the gate. Although no warning was given, the sir was consistent as he had previously yellow carded a Minnesota player for the same rule. Michigan played great defense while they were a man down until yet another Michigan player was yellow carded for the same reason (Nick Campbell). Despite the yellow cards, about 15 minutes into the second half, Davis Grimm ran a great line right back into a ruck and broke free for a try. Kick was good. At this point Michigan was up 21 – 10. Minnesota scored one more try in the contest but the Maize and Blue hung on for the win. Final score: 21 – 17.
Roster:
1: Alex Carson
2: Lyric Kleber
3: Davis Grimm
4: Ben Cotsarelis
5: Jamie Demers
6: Travis Dantzer
7: Nate Orlowski
8: Jack Vecchio
9: Justin Malin
10: Guy Burke
11: Colin Walters
12: Nate Fisher
13: Bryce Watson
14: Jordan Perez
15: Nick Campbell
16: Connor Jones
17: Jake Bodner
18: Will Biel
19: Jake Bailey
20: Truman Stovall
21: Lucas Dean
22: Brandon Walter
On October 21st Michigan woke up bright and early to arrive on time for their game against the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champagne. The weather was perfect for rugby as the ball was kicked off at noon. The first few phases led to Illinois getting the ball in wolverine territory. Although there was some great goal line defense for a few phases, Michigan let up the first try at four and a half minutes in. Conversion was no good, Illinois winning 5 to 0. The next 10 minutes or so were punctuated by many set pieces and an injury to Michigan’s Pierre Flin who shook it off and kept playing. Finally, Michigan’s scrum-half Jordan Perez picked the ball up off the scrum and ran it in for a try. Guy Burke converts the easy kick 7 – 5, Michigan. The wolverines struggled to get the ball out of their territory after the kick. After many phases, a strong kick from Guy Burke puts the ball in Illinois’ half of the field for the first time. However, Illinois immediately returns the kick so far that Pierre needs to touch it down in our try zone. Play continued for tens of minutes after this with neither team able to maintain possession long enough to score a try. The half ended with no further scoring. After a ton of back and forth play and a lot of kicking, Illinois maintained possession long enough to score a try. Kick was no good, Illinois up 10 – 7. Illinois managed to score again after exploiting a defensive overload with a well-placed kick and chase down the sideline. They were smart to identify the kick shortly after Michigan’s wing was just subbed out for an injury. The conversion was no good, Illinois up 15 – 7. Michigan responded by getting the ball close to the tryzone of Illinois for quite some time, but could not manage to get the ball in for a score. After a fight almost broke out, Michigan was awarded a penalty kick, which they used to gain good field position and win a lineout. However, they were still unable to convert after more than a few more phases and another penalty their way during an Illinois injury (preventing them from going quick). After a couple more phases, heartbreak struck as Illinois regained possession and their scrumhalf found a hole in the defense to pick and go from the ruck, running the ball a good 70 meters to score the try. 20 – 7 Illinois. Michigan managed to score one more try for the last play of the game. Dotted down by Will Biel, the kick was made and the final score was 20 – 14. A hard fought loss for the boys in blue.
Roster:
1: Alex Carson
2: Lyric Kleber
3: Davis Grimm
4: Ben Cotsarelis
5: Jamie Demers
6: Travis Dantzer
7: Nate Orlowski
8: Jack Vecchio
9: Jordan Perez
10: Guy Burke
11: Colin Walters
12: Nate Fisher
13: Bryce Watson
14: Ian Kwant
15: Pierre Flin
16: Connor Jones
17: Jake Bodner
18: Will Biel
19: Jake Bailey
20: Truman Stovall
21: Lucas Dean
22: Brandon Walter
23: Pierce
Academy Games:
MSU: Loss 10 – 41
Minnesota: Win 22 – 15
Illinois: Loss 27 – 33
