St. Mary's to Semis
St. Mary's to Semis
St. Mary’s joined Lindenwood, Life, and Utah in the DIA semifinals with a convincing 77-17 defeat of Air Force Sunday.
The game was played on Sunday because the Air Force v Cal Poly Round 1 game was snowed out last week - and so it was moved from Colorado to Moraga, Calif. so it could be played on Saturday. Air Force won that clash, but it was always going to be a tough task for the Falcons to bounce back the next day and play mighty St. Mary’s.
As it was, you might expect Air Force to hang on for a while and then tire. It wasn’t quite like that, as St. Mary’s struck hard, fast, and with great efficaciousness to power in three early tries. The first was an impressive display of how to get everyone in the game involved, and ended with the scrum winning clean ball for Alec Barton to surge over. After that Aaron Matthews cut through a gap in the middle, and the Vili Helu galloped in for one of his own.
Almost the entire first half was played in the Air Force end, and St. Mary’s moved the ball with fluidity, and with the likes of Kevin O’Connor getting to the breakdown quickly and with power, they got quick ball and worked it nicely.
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The Gaels were pleased to get wing Nick Schlobohm back in the starting lineup at wing after some injury problems, and got some nice work from both Michael and Tommy Wallace. The try of the day may well have been Charlie Loudon’s chase of a perfectly-weight kick from Mike McCarthy, or it might have been Dylan Audsley’s audacious break to set up a teammate.
Whatever it was, St. Mary’s shut out Air Force in the first half and cruised to their fourth-straight DIA semifinal. Air Force continued to play to the end - you’d expect no less - and scored three second-half tries
St. Mary’s looked on top of their game, and are nicely-placed for a home semifinal against Utah next week.
“It’s not many times you get to see your opponent play the day before, and we definitely took note of some things,” said flanker Kevin O’Connor. “They might have started with heavy legs, but we knew we were going to play at our pace, and if they could keep up, then they could keep up. This was one of the only weekends where we’ve been able to play when it’s not been raining hard. We had a dry field and almost everyone healthy, and we feel like things are going well.”
One of the players who is not healthy is scrumhalf Holden Yungert, who is out with a broken arm. Chris McDonell and Brad Roberts stepped into the position Sunday and both looked good as they kept the game moving with alacrity.
“Chris coming in as the started was pretty seamless,” said O’Connor. “Both Brad and Chris have been making Holden earn his spot, so they’re good players. For all of us, if you come off the bench of need to come into the starting lineup, you want to elevate the game in some way. That’s how we play.”
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