A Wild, Back-And-Forth Game Sees Saint Marys Past CWU
A Wild, Back-And-Forth Game Sees Saint Marys Past CWU
Saint Mary’s rode the rollercoaster once more Saturday, before surviving an enormously talented Central Washington team 53-48.
This game was non-stop.
Central Washington took the early lead on a weakside move to wing Oscar Treacy, who kicked ahead and regathered when the ball bounced awkwardly for Saint Mary’s fullback Mario Storti. Jac Tregoning converted from the touchline and we were off.
Right off the restart Saint Mary’s charged down a Wildcats clearance kick. The ball was knocked past the dead-ball-line by a CWU player, but no penalty try was called likely because there was reasonable doubt at to whether the player was trying to touch the ball down or grab it.
Saint Mary’s got a scrum at the five-meter, but Centra stopped them thanks in part to a superb one-on-one tackle from Tregoning on wing Siale Ofa.
But back came Saint Mary’s with prop John Wilson busting through on a long run and then sending an excellent pass to Ofa to finish it off.
From the next restart, quick hands to Storti put him off on a run. He linked with Ofa on an inside line and that got the Gaels to the CWU 22. Quick ball saw Dom Besag catch and pass just as he was hit. The ball was scooped up by King Matu and he set up Brian McKeon to score his second try in as many weeks.
Saint Mary’s kept it up. From the restart a wide kick from Ollie Cline to Ofa. He gained territory and then the ball was sent quickly out to the left where Iosefa Toia’ivao, who beat four defenders before he’s finally tackles. Saint Mary’s, however, can’t finish it off, and a later big break from Besag was also stopped.
So it was Central Washington that scored next. Bolstered by a Gaels penalty, the Wildcats camped out in the Saint Mary’s 22, and finally put lock Andrew Miller through. That made it 12-10 CWU, but not long after Cline popped a chip over the CWU defensive line for Besag to grab.
He linked with Sosaia Pongi, who found flanker Sione Ofa (Siale’s older brother), who charged on to score.
Down 17-12, Central Washington once again got into scoring position where Treacy took a pass in the middle of the field and popped a high ball for wing Drew Farrington. Try Central Washington.
Right after that, Tregoning chipped through for Sam Dwyer to chase down. Tregoning converted, and it was 24-17 with time ticking away in the first half.
With halftime approaching Saint Mary’s got into the Central Washington 22, earned a scrum five meters out, and from there, Besag set up Storti to score. Cline converted and it was 24-24 at the break.
The scoring commenced less than a minute into the second half. An excellent pass from Pongi to Storti unleashed the fullback. He then passed to Siale Ofa, who sold a dummy before finishing off an 80-plus-meter run.
Pongi was a superb playmaker for Saint Mary’s before he was felled by injury. Eased back into playing time his presence has been felt immediately. His passing, combined with his ability to make players miss, makes Saint Mary’s that much more dangerous.
Off a lineout Saint Mary’s looked to maul it in, but CWU stopped them cold. So they popped off the back and Wilson set up Toia’ivao for a try. That made it 36-24 for Saint Mary’s.
The two Saint Mary’s wings created the next try, with Ofa slicing across the field to attack the opposite side. He found Storti who then linked with Toia’ivao for a 55-meter run to paydirt. Now it was 43-25.
Central Washington responded with a powerful pick-and-go from hooker Campbell Robb. But Saint Mary’s scored a brilliant 40-meter try with Wilson bursting through a gap and finding McKeon for a prop-to-lock breakaway. Conversion from Cline good and it was 50-31.
CWU went right back to press Saint Mary’s in their 22 and were right on the line and ready to go over when Besag did just enough to dislodge the ball and force a knock-on. That was a crucial miss for the Wildcats, and even more so when Saint Mary’s cleared, moved into the CWU half, and opted for the three points on a penalty.
That made it 53-31, a four-score game with eight minutes to go. Game over, right? Not so fast.
A silly offload by Saint Mary’s in their own 22 led to a scrum for Central Washington and Treacy beating three defenders to score in the corner. Scoring in the corner was no problem for Tregoning as he nailed the conversion. 53-38. Then, playing with a penalty advantage, the Wildcats had a ruck in the middle of the field. The Gaels were slow to guard the ruck and off a pick-and-go Miller was in support to score. Conversion good. 53-45. Needing to score twice Central Washington made the same decision that Cal Poly made in their win over UCLA—realize that scoring a try can take time, so take the penalty, which costs only a few seconds, and then spend the rest of the game working to get that try.
So now it was 53-48 and CWU received the restart and started to find a way to get down the field. It didn’t happen. They lost the ball and the Gaels set up to kick to touch … except Besag shanked the kick badly and it rolled about 32 meters back toward his own goaline. Alert to the mistake, Treacy raced down the sideline to get the ball, but Sia Ofa was faster and was able to fly-hack the ball into touch.
Now, there seemed to be a knock-on advantage so it’s likely CWU would not have been able to score regardless, but it was still a dramatic ending to a dramatic game.
It was a tough loss for a very good CWU team.
"Some high-level attacking rugby on display today, and unfortunately, we couldn't put together enough pieces of sustained pressure on the defending national champions to get the win,” said Wildcats Head Coach Todd Thornley. “This group was unbelievable to coach and learn with this year, and we will miss our seniors tremendously. They can be very proud of their time here and they have provided as a great foundation of consistent success to build off of, which I will be eternally grateful for".
For Saint Mary’s Head Coach Tim O’Brien, this was the first time in some weeks that they had a settled 15. Still they had some work to do.
“There was some problem-solving where we didn’t solve the problems presented to us very well,” O’Brien told GRR. “Central’s ability to chip the ball into some open spaces in their attack was impressive; they’re a great opponent and that’s the best Central team we’ve seen.”
Key for Saint Mary’s was they avoided penalties, and thus didn’t give CWU cheap meters. What they didn’t avoid was mistakes late in the game when being a little more patient and conservative would have helped.
“We didn’t feel threatened until at the end we made all these errors,” said O’Brien. “With our top team, when it’s on, it’s magical. We have one of the smallest teams and one of the faster teams around. Were a very athletic group and a skillful group. What’s happened is the way we’ve dealt with some adversity has been really gratifying. But we also struggled with some IQ stuff. When we’ve been burned, we have been the ones who light match.”
Pongi’s combination with Besag makes Saint Mary’s even more dangerous. Wilson has been exceptional. At lock, Cathal Coakley has been a rock, and he combined with the skinny, hard-working McKeon to make an effective unit. And none of that quick play happens if Hunter Modlin is slow at scrumhalf.
Is that enough to overcome giving up over 40 points in big games? So far it has been, but maybe not going forward.
