Men's Rugby Defeats Penn St., Advances in Playoffs
Issue date: 3/25/09 Section: Sports
By John Graham
Community Submission
Patrick Baden scored 11 points on four of six kicking, and Chris Davis scored an early try to lead Longwood to a 16-11 victory over Penn State Berks (PSB) in a USA Rugby Sweet 16 playoff game played at First Avenue field Saturday. The tone of the game was set very early. This was a hard-hitting game and would require a very good overall team effort to overcome the larger Penn State team. In the first five minutes of the game, the ball went wide to wing Jaye Kennedy who run down the sideline and then passed inside to Davis, who scored easily. The Baden conversion made it 7-0, an advantage LU would hold the entire game.
Longwood applied the pressure and another Baden penalty kick made the score 10-0. PSB had their chances, and four times inside the 30-yard line they had penalty kicks and failed to convert all except one and left the halftime score 10-3. Team efforts dominated the second half. The tight five, led by hooker Kimmy Bittner and second row Austin Lux controlled lineouts and scrums while back row players Ben Adams, T.J. Van Petten and "Lumberjack" Betz protected the fringes with fierce tackling. Meanwhile, the backline with Davis, "DR" Ballinger and Preston Leep stopped all efforts by PSB to advance.
Longwood keep the scoreboard turning with more Baden kicks to raise the score to 16-3. Two very late scores by PSB made the final 16-11. For his kicking and scrum work, Baden was named man-of-the-match. The win moves Longwood to the USA rugby final eight and will play the winner of American University versus Widener University on Saturday, March 28, in Bridgeport, Pa. More information can be found at longwoodrugby.org
Community Submission
Patrick Baden scored 11 points on four of six kicking, and Chris Davis scored an early try to lead Longwood to a 16-11 victory over Penn State Berks (PSB) in a USA Rugby Sweet 16 playoff game played at First Avenue field Saturday. The tone of the game was set very early. This was a hard-hitting game and would require a very good overall team effort to overcome the larger Penn State team. In the first five minutes of the game, the ball went wide to wing Jaye Kennedy who run down the sideline and then passed inside to Davis, who scored easily. The Baden conversion made it 7-0, an advantage LU would hold the entire game.
Longwood applied the pressure and another Baden penalty kick made the score 10-0. PSB had their chances, and four times inside the 30-yard line they had penalty kicks and failed to convert all except one and left the halftime score 10-3. Team efforts dominated the second half. The tight five, led by hooker Kimmy Bittner and second row Austin Lux controlled lineouts and scrums while back row players Ben Adams, T.J. Van Petten and "Lumberjack" Betz protected the fringes with fierce tackling. Meanwhile, the backline with Davis, "DR" Ballinger and Preston Leep stopped all efforts by PSB to advance.
Longwood keep the scoreboard turning with more Baden kicks to raise the score to 16-3. Two very late scores by PSB made the final 16-11. For his kicking and scrum work, Baden was named man-of-the-match. The win moves Longwood to the USA rugby final eight and will play the winner of American University versus Widener University on Saturday, March 28, in Bridgeport, Pa. More information can be found at longwoodrugby.org
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