Rugby ends season without a loss
The Owls defeated Sam Houston State University's first side 12-10 in the tournament finals.
Trailing Sam Houston State 10-0 at halftime, the Owls rallied on the strength of two tries by sophomore Pete Marketos and a conversion by junior Jason Ockerman.
"At halftime, it looked extremely bleak," said Head Coach Anthony Gregory. "Sam Houston State was much larger and pretty aggressive. They were playing with brute force instead of skills and talent. They were not gentlemen in any way."
"The crowd was for Sam Houston State, also," he added. "It made it difficult to come back from 10-0 with the crowd jeering at Rice."
In the second half, however, the Owls were able to rally using solid fundamental play, according to Gregory.
"The forwards, although they were half the size of the Sam Houston State forwards, were able to give clean ball to the backs in the second half," he said. "It's a credit to Duncan Rossiter's coaching. That's what he has been working on. It was an exceptionally sweet victory. We had never won this tournament before."
The Owls advanced to the tournament's final round on the strength of shutouts in the first and second rounds.
Saturday they defeated Texas A&M University, 19-0. Marketos scored the only try for the Owls and added a drop kick. Ockerman tallied a conversion and three penalty kicks.
"Against A&M, the weather wasn't very good," Ockerman said. "We concentrated better than they did, and we attacked better."
The Owls, who were missing four starters, converted a potential disadvantage into an advantage, according to Ockerman.
"Our forward pack had four starters missing," he said. "Because we had to substitute there, however, we ended up being fitter and faster. We just simply beat A&M to the ball. We dominated from one side of the field to the other."
The Owls made it to the finals after blanking the Sam Houston State second side 18-0.
Senior Dan Rosen scored two tries, senior Will Owen added a try and Ockerman closed out the scoring with a penalty kick.
"They were a little tougher for us," Ockerman said. "Their style of play was rougher and sloppier. It was tougher to score because they kept committing penalties and because we were dropping the ball because of the mud."
The Owl second side, which also participated in the tournament, had less success.
They lost 3-0 to the Sam Houston State second side on Saturday and posted a 19-6 defeat to the Stephen F. Austin State University first side in a consolation game Sunday.
Freshman Matt Bayazitoglu was the only Owl second-side player to score, tallying two penalty kicks against Stephen F. Austin.
Still, the performance of the second side pleased Gregory.
"They played exceptionally well," he said. "They just had problems standing up to Stephen F. Austin in the second half. I felt that everyone on both sides played with terrific tenacity and class this weekend."
The Owls were scheduled to compete in the Houston Club Rugby Tournament this weekend, but they decided not to compete, according to Rossiter.
"I talked with captain Dan Gargulio. The players are just not keen to play. There are problems with the weather and with injuries," he said.
The Owls conclude the first semester with an 8-0 record in league play.
They will continue on their quest for a second straight Texas Collegiate Championship when play starts again in January.
The second semester schedule will include dates with league foes Southwest Texas University, Sam Houston State and Texas Tech University.
The Owls will also entertain touring squads from Canada and England in the spring, and the Texas Collegiate Tournament is on the horizon for the squad in late March.
According to Rossiter, the Owls have high hopes for a second straight victory in the Collegiate Tournament. A victory there would advance the Owls to competition in April with schools from all around the West.
"We had a lot of first-year players this year, so I didn't know what to expect," he said. "I have to consider our development quite promising at the moment."
This item appeared in the Sports section of the November 19, 1993 issue.
Copyright © 1996 The Rice Thresher. All Rights
Reserved.
This document may be distributed
electronically, provided that it is distributed in its
entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted
without the express written permission of:
The Rice Thresher, Rice University, 6100 Main, Houston, TX 77005-1892, USA.
The Thresher Online Project -- ethresh@listserv.rice.edu