The BG rugby team won out its last weekend of play, taking a triple header from Purdue University in BG’s only home match of the season.
A nice crowd of 500 die hard fans braved a nippy wind to watch the Falcons defeat the Boilermakers 32-25, 31-10 and 12 -0.
“Last week’s loss in the nationals left in a blue funk all week, and that certainly affected how we played at the start of this week’s matches,” stated BG coach Roger Mazzarella. “Once it was obvious that Purdue was’t going to just roll over and play dead, the guys picked up the tempo and played like the national championship caliber team that they are.”
Interestingly, the Falcons very nearly got a second bite at the cherry so to speak. BG was notified late Tuesday to prepare for a possible spot in the national final four as San Diego State had been booted from the competition for player eligibility irregularities and the filing of a rape lawsuit.
“Our inclusion was contingent on Utah turning down the invitation as they were next in line,” commented Mazzarella. “At this late date and considering the distance they had to travel (the finals are in Virginia Beach), I thought we were a lock, but Utah took up the challenge, and we were out.”
The forfeit victory over the Aztecs did vault BG from 13th place up to fifth in the nation.
The first match against Purdue started out according to the usual BG rugby script: Knock the opposition back on its heals and score lots of points real fast. The Boilermakers were in a deep hole in no time at all. Center Pete Cromly touched down in the corner before most of the fans were in their seats. Senior wing Tim Rieger’s final career try put BG up 10-0 and a 75-yard jaunt up the sideline by BG’s hard running wing Kevin Mongold, and a Cromly conversion made it 17-0.
Purdue then decided to make a game of it and punched in a try and penalty kick field goal to make it 17-8 only to have Mongold close the door on any rally hopes with another of his patented one-two-jukes-and-away-we-go scoring runs. BG led at the half 22-8.
Like an irritating fly, the Boilermakers would just not go away. Purdue put another try and conversion across the goal line to start the second half only to see it matched by Mongold’s hat trick score and Cromly’s conversion to now make the score 29-15. Purdue then closed the gap to just four points as it tallied a try, a conversion kick and a penalty goal. Cromly put the game out of reach at 32-25 with a late penalty goal of his own.
“Put a little scare into ’em, ” chuckled Purdue coach Eric Vaughn. “I’m proud of the way my guys kept coming back at BG. I told them before we got here that to become the best you have to play the best. BG’s got an excellent team, and we’ll be looking forward to seeing them down at our place next fall.”
The Falcons had a much easier time with the Boilermakers in the last two matches as it was apparent that Purdue had put everything it had into the first contest. Fullback Jake Puhl touched twice in the first half of the second match, and fly half Jon Woodman added a try and two conversions for a 19-0 lead. Flanker Jon Black and wing Tom Gongwer added tries and Woodman a conversion in the second half as BG won 31-10.
In the third match, rookie center Zac Molnar, another football expatriate, and fullback Matt Johnston scored tries and fly half Dave Dibenedetto hit a conversion to beat Purdue 12-0.
BG closes out its season with a stellar 25-2 record after having won its 21st straight MAC championship and ranking fifth in the nation. The Falcons will lose only three of its regulars while welcoming back flankers Reed Luecke and Jeff Meeker, who were called away on National Guard duty after September 11.
“I look for us to be as good as or better than we were next year,” said assistant coach Chris Hopps.
