Central Washington once again met the University of Utah in the Varsity Cup quarterfinals, and once again the Wildcats emerged victorious.

This time, it was a bit of a bridge (or game) too far for Utah, which has been battling injuries through a hugely demanding season. The Utes needed a last-minute try to get by Air Force last week, but couldn't hang with CWU this week, as the Wildcats won big, 58-5.

Utah had things going their way early, as the Wildcats were pinged for three yellow cards in quick succession, two in the front row. For almost seven minutes CWU was down to 12 players. But somehow their defense hung on.

"I really commend our guys for playing fantastic defense against a quality opponent when we were down a few members in the first half," CWU Head Coach Tony Pacheco told CWU Athletics.  "It was a gutsy gutsy performance by the 12 who were on the field.  We have to be better with our discipline, so we do not put ourselves in these types of situations."
 
After getting back to their full 15, CWU went to work. Newly-capped Eagle flanker Aladdin Schirmer scored the opening and then Clint Lemkus scored to make it 14-0. 

"It was just a matter of us getting our hands on the ball," Pacheco added.  "For the first 20 minutes we defended the entire time, and were in survival mode.  When we were able to get back to full strength and get our hands on the ball, we carried very well.  There was a lot of support all over the field and were able to maintain possession and score tries,"
 
CWU led 26-0 at halftime and didn't let up. Scott Dean ended up with three tries and freshman prop Scott Dean would add his second try of the day to start the second half. Freshman prop Derise Fuga scored, Lindstrom ended up with two, and Ian Wright and Beau Davis also crossed the tryline.

CWU is now set to face Cal after the Bears beat Army. 

"We are excited to go down and play a good squad and we are excited to get our chance," said Pacheco. "Witter Rugby Field is a great place to play and we are looking forward to the challenge."