Central Washington Over Penn State in D1 Elite Clash
Central Washington Over Penn State in D1 Elite Clash
Central Washington defeated Penn State 63-12 Thursday night in the opening D1 Elite game for the Wildcats.
This is part of CWU's tour of the east coast. The Wildcats will take on Navy on Saturday.
Central blew apart the game early. Tessa Hann blazed through for a long-range gallop within the first minute. She ended up scoring three. Central's scrums were excellent and that helped the Wildcats control the game. Keia Mae Sagapolu, Sammy Stern, and Kai Brandt-Templeton got in on the scoring, and Central's skill execution was very good. Mae Sagapolu and Stern both joined Hann with hat tricks.
"Tessa set the tone with those line breaks to start off the game and you could see the team feed off that energy," Head Coach Matt Ramirez said. "To see the squad implement what we drilled in our shortened training week was phenomenal. The team stuck to the basics, created mismatches, and won the contact area throughout the game and were rewarded. Very proud of the team for stepping up the way they did just four days after the first match of the season."
Penn State did rebound and get over the line, but Central responded to keep them at arm's length.
"Full credit to Penn State and that great coaching staff," added Ramirez. "They're a program that paved the way for elite rugby programs across the Nation and their accolades definitely show that. Couldn't be more proud to see this young squad take on that challenge and respond positively as a team, together."
This is just the second D1 Elite game of the fall. Here are the standings so far:
| D1 Elite | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | Pts |
| Life | 1 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 0 | 53 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Central Washington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 12 | 51 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Lindenwoood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Penn State | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 116 | -104 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Also on the slate for this weekend among D1 Elite teams:
Life is at Lindenwood in a game that has huge implications on the seeding. And with Lindenwood's longtime Head Coach Billy Nicholas now out of the picture, you wonder how Lindenwood will respond.
