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12/04/09
-Club elections were held
recently, and there were some exciting developments. In Fall elections, every executive
position, as well as the two captain positions, is voted on. This year, there was only one person who
stayed in his respective spot: the
long-standing forward captain Santino Zizzo. His counterpart in the backs’ department
is the green Cory Willing. Joey
Zingrone is the new president, Ross McAbee the new VP, and Grant Bend the
treasurer. Matt “Skinny” Burkhalter
fills out the Big Four at the match secretary position. Congratulations to everyone—we know
you’ll do great!
11/04/09
- Platteville hosted the
first round of Midwest Playoffs October 31 and November 1. The Pioneers’ first match was against
Northwestern Illinois in a cold, windy match. The match was even in the first half, but
after the halftime pep talk, Platteville came out swinging. The Pioneers’ strikes usually consisted
of getting the ball out to the wings in the back line, and beating the
Northwestern backs with speed. By
the end of the match, Platteville was doing well enough to put
second-string players in, who made a great showing. The final was 48-16, with Platteville the
victor.
- After their victory
Saturday, the boys were in the Elite Eight of the Midwest Playoffs, and
faced up with their old rival, UW-Whitewater, Sunday at 12:30. Platteville scored two tries early in the
first half, but Whitewater answered back with two tries of their own, and
going into the half the score was very close. In the second half, both teams scored one
try early, and then an extended trench battle emerged between both teams,
with neither making any real progress.
Finally, Whitewater scored a try to take the lead with fifteen
minutes left. Platteville answered
back, and the ensuing battle for the victory consisted of the hardest rugby
match either team had seen all year, with many players commenting that it
was their hardest match ever. After
a Platteville try was called back for a dangerous play, Whitewater was able
to capitalize on the advantage and move the ball downfield. With little time left in the match,
Whitewater was awarded a controversial penalty inside Platteville’s
22-meter line. The team opted to
kick for posts, scoring three points for their team. Despite a concentrated and valiant rally
by Platteville, Whitewater held on to the victory, ending Platteville’s
season.
Although Platteville lost,
we’re glad it was to a Wisconsin team, who will now be representing the
state in the Midwest final four tournament the weekend of November 14 and
15 in Elkhart, Indiana. We wish them
the best of luck, and hope they prove the strength of Wisconsin rugby to
the whole of the Midwest.
This was the last Fall
season for most of Platteville’s A-side players, and though the loss was a
heartbreaking one, we can all hold our heads high, and know that the team
did the best it has in five years.
Congratulations on the season Platteville—it was a good one.
10/23/09
- After defeating
UW-Lacrosse in the team's hardest, coldest match yet October 10th,
Platteville went to Madison Sunday October 18th to play Northern Michigan
University for the number one seed going into the Midwest Playoffs, and the
top spot in the Wisconsin conference. Despite NMU's strong forward-centered
offense and some minor argie-bargie occurring when the sir wasn't looking,
Platteville came out on top, proving to everyone that "we're the best
DII team in the state."
The boys look to continue their success in the Midwest Playoffs.
Platteville won the bid to host the first round tournament October
31-November 1, so we need our zealous fans more than ever to come show
their support for the team. For the next week, the boys will be eating,
sleeping, and breathing rugby, and we can't wait to give you a good show.
Let's show Illinois and Iowa what Platteville's made of!
9/28/09
- Platteville’s ruggers
clinched a playoff berth with a forty-five point victory over UW-Steven’s
Point Saturday. The next match is
October 10 in LaCrosse, where Platteville will fight for the first seed
position in the regional playoffs.
In the meantime, the boys of Platteville Rugby will train hard
during their bye week, and will come out ready to play hard against
LaCrosse.
9/22/09
- Platteville is now 2-0 after
a decisive victory in Eau Claire.
The men defeated Milwaukee in the home opener September 12, and won
against Eau Claire this past weekend 65-12.
The next match will be this Saturday at home, against UW-Steven’s
Point. We hope to see you there!
4/28/09
- Platteville took second
place at the annual Milwaukee Cup tournament on April 18th. Platteville’s first match was against
UW-Parkside. The match was
neck-and-neck at half, but in the second half, Platteville took off, ending
up crushing Parkside. The second
match was against UW-Marquette, where the team was losing going into the
half, but rallied in the second to a great come-from-behind win. The third match, the tournament
championship, was against the defending champions of UW-Whitewater. At half, Platteville was down by
twenty-nine points, but in the second half was looking like they could pull
off an amazing comeback, even greater than that of the Marquette
match. Unfortunately, the men came
close, but not close enough, losing the match by three points on a
contested call. The final score was
29-26.
- The Men’s Rugby team won
Mudfest on April 4th, triumphing over UW-Steven’s Point,
UW-Ripon, and the Men’s B-side team.
The Platteville Men’s Alumni team, with the help of some Irish
imports, easily took the Men’s Division, defeating the Oshkosh Men’s team
and the LaCrosse Men’s team. Thank
you to everyone who came out and supported the team. We hope you had a great time!
- Platteville’s B-side lost
to Madison’s B-side March 28th in a very close game. The B-siders fought hard, and dominated
the game, but in the end, were unable to make their efforts put any points
on the scoreboard. The team got a
great look at rugby, as for many it was their first real match. Good things are expected from these
up-and-comers.
3/13/09
- Over the weekend of
February 14th, fourteen players of the UW-Platteville Men’s
Rugby Club travelled to San Diego to participate in a seven’s tournament, as
well as watch the USA Sevens international rugby tournament in Petco
Park. In its first competitive
sevens experience ever, the team placed sixth of ten teams in the
tournament. On Saturday, the men
watched the U.S. team beat Australia’s team for only the second time in 32
matchups between the teams. The
entire trip was a wonderful experience, and the boys had a great time.
Players: Click below
to access the private website!
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