For the second straight year, the BG Rugby Club concluded its season with a trip to the California coast to compete in the USA Rugby National Round of 16, held this year in Santa Barbara.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, they also walked away from the weekend the same way they did in 2009; with a pair of tough losses. BG started off by losing 32-15 to a powerful San Diego State squad on Friday, before losing to St. Mary’s 52-31 in the consolation round on Saturday.
Against the Aztecs, BG played what coach Tony Mazzarella called “one of our best games of the season,” only to be undone by some costly missed opportunities. In the early going, the Falcons executed Mazzarella’s game plan to near-perfection, matching the bigger Aztecs physical blow for physical blow.
However, the Falcons missed a couple of opportunities deep in SDSU territory to punch the ball in for tries and, despite a stellar kicking effort by Nick Viviani, trailed 20-15 midway through the second half. From there, the Aztecs’ superior physical conditioning began to pay dividends as they used a pair of tries to cruise home.
“It was really a tale of two games,” Mazzarella said. “It’s a shame. We had them right where we wanted them, but we just had a couple of mistakes that really came back to bite us. Against a team that talented, you can’t afford to help them out one bit.”
On Saturday, Mazzarella admitted that his team was probably a bit worn out, which could have accounted for their sloppy defensive performance during a 52-31 loss to St. Mary’s. Even though both teams were eliminated from national title contention, the contest was still used to determine seeding for next year.
“I still am searching for a reason why we lost that [St. Mary’s] game,” Mazzarella said. “That was definitely one of the poorer defensive performances we’ve had in a while.”
Similar to the first game, matters were tight well into the second half before the Gaels were able to use a flurry of points to pull away.
Although making it to this point for two consecutive years is quite an accomplishment, Mazzarella received a sense that his team was dissatisfied with the results and was hungry to start reaching for more.
“There is no doubt that we have accomplished a lot together as a team,” Mazzarella said. “But everybody knows that there is whole other level that teams like San Diego State have reached, and that we are still trying to get to. As a coach I also have to re-evaluate certain strategies and techniques to make sure I am putting them in the best position possible to succeed. The good news is that everybody seems more than willing to pay the necessary price for greater long-term success.”