Oxy Blackshirts Open Season with Long Beach Tournie

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Author: Gil Alcaraz and Gabe Shapiro

As many club sports at Oxy start to kick practices into gear, the men’s rugby team is no exception. After a successful season last year that included a playoff appearance against the USC Trojans in the first round, the Occidental Blackshirts hope to return to tip top shape and continue their club rugby dominance.

Oxy competes in the Southern California Rugby Football Union in the Division III group, with schools such as USC, San Diego State and UC Riverside. The school has always had a reputation for playing tough, tenacious rugby – and consistently comes out near the top of the standings.

This year’s captain Mitch Grummon (junior) will work to inspire new players, as well as the young blood from last year. With the loss of key seniors such as Brett Henderson ’09 and Alex Ochoa ’09, the Tigers are now looking to younger, experienced players such as Sam Buckley (sophomore), Leon Siegel (sophomore) and Johnny Ni (junior) to keep the tradition of excellence alive at Oxy.

Practices are frequented by many eager rugby players preparing to stomp out this season’s competition, or new players looking to hone their skills and gain knowledge of the game. As these Tigers face stiff competition against tough opponents, working hard and preparing rigorously has become an all-important task for the players.

The Blackshirts returned this week from a strong showing at the Cal State University Long Beach (CSULB) tournament. In their first tournament of the year, the Blackshirts proved that they are a team to be reckoned with. The team came out with an upset victory against the host team CSULB 16-8, but lost to Loyola Marymount 23-0, and also lost to UC Irvine 14-5. “The 49ers (Long Beach’s rugby club) is a perennially strong team and has been a consistently top contender,” Grummon said in an e-mail interview.

The Blackshirts held off an early attack by the 49ers, as the first half of the game turned into a physical, defensive battle. In the midst of a broken scrum, Drew Hanson (senior) scooped up a loose ball and took it to the weak side, sprinting 40 yards for the first try of the season. “Drew’s play demonstrated the raw speed and awareness that our team brings to the pitch,” Grummon said. “After that, we didn’t look back.”

The Blackshirts kept the pressure on Long Beach, conceding only a penalty try and adding another one of their own after Henry Carr (sophomore) collected a kick by Keeya Bighorse (senior) and pushed his way deep into Long Beach territory. Seeing a scoring opportunity, Javier Avalos (junior) capitalized on a good position and ran the ball in for a try. Leon Siegel (sophomore) made numerous hard tackles deep behind the Blackshirts’ lines. Showing extraordinary toughness and organization in their first game of the tournament, the Blackshirts edged out the 49ers with a 16 to 8 victory.

In their second match of the day, the Blackshirts faced LMU. “LMU consistently fields a strong team,” Sam Buckley (sophomore) says. “Despite not being from Gonzaga, their captain and outside center put on a particularly impressive performance.”

Though they showed every bit as much intensity as they did in the first game, the Blackshirts had trouble containing the LMU offense. “This tournament was important because it provided the new players with valuable game experience – nothing can duplicate the intensity of a 15s match,” Grummond said. “Everybody is still working out the kinks and figuring out how to play as a team.”

The game included the debut performances of first year ruggers Max Horton (first-year), Matt Nixon (sophomore), Alex Acuna (first-year), Evan Fenner (first-year), Alberto Adame (sophomore) and David Baier (sophomore).

Despite this being their first rugby game, the new players showed great poise and intensity facing off against the more experienced LMU team. Though the Blackshirts had many scoring opportunities, they failed to cross the try line. Late in the first half, Josh Martinez (senior) broke across the defense and placed the ball in the try zone, but amid a pile of burly, ferocious arms and legs, the referee deemed the ball held up. LMU carried the day game with a final score of 23-0.

In the final game of the day, the Blackshirts found themselves facing-off against the challenging UCI team. This game featured a new lineup with Bighorse as flyhalf and Gonzaga, WA all-star scrum half Buckley injured on the sidelines. With new players playing unfamiliar positions, the Blackshirts were in for a tough game. Standout performances came in the form of downright vicious defensive tackles from Tucker Eason (sophomore), Jon Fox (senior) and Grummon.

Despite the strong efforts by the team, the Blackshirts lost to UCI 18-5.

Although their first tournament was not as successful as they had hoped, the team still has high expectations for the season.

When asked about how their first tournament went, Siegel said, “Even though we only won one of the three games, the main focus of the tournament was to get the new players on the field and get people experience.” Hopes remain high among the players for their upcoming season.

The men’s rugby team is always looking for players to join the squad, and every practice is open to students interested in participating. Practices are from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays so if you think you’re up for some hard hits, stop by and see what it is like.

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