By James Nelson
SMCGaels.com Correspondent
MORAGA, Calif. -- It may have taken a few minutes for the Saint Mary's rugby team to shake off the cobwebs in Saturday's USA Rugby College National Championship Series quarterfinal against Santa Clara but once the Gaels did, it was truly a sight to behold.
Whether it was simply rust from a week off or nervousness for their first playoff game, the Gaels began the game with uncharacteristically sloppy play in the first few minutes. Once they righted the ship, however, they unleashed an offensive explosion that featured some of the best open field rugby the Gaels have played all season en route to a 103-10 victory at Pat Vincent Field.
Early in the game, the Gaels had several good chances to score but several knock-ons halted their momentum and killed solid drives. One of these came directly after a spectacular sequence of play as Cooper Maloney broke free before offloading to Garrett Brewer. Brewer gave to Bubba Jones, who then made a fantastic pass to Dino Waldren for what appeared to be the first try of the game. It was ruled that Waldren did not touch the ball down before losing it however, and Santa Clara soon answered with a long drive of its own to get a penalty kick and a 3-0 lead.
That would be the last positive note for Santa Clara for quite some time however, as the Gaels regained their composure and began to dominate. Mark Bowers came up with a clutch steal in SMC territory to stall a Santa Clara drive and he shipped the ball wide to Kingsley McGowan, who took the ball 65 meters by himself for the try. After the Brewer conversion made the score 7-3, the Gaels once again went to work.
After gaining possession around midfield, Brewer unleashed a very impressive skip pass that soared over the head of several players before being caught by McGowan. The extra time gained from the long pass was all McGowan needed as he once again blew through the defense before offloading to Luke Sauser for the try. Waldren added a hard-fought try after a long drive and the score stood at 21-3 with a little over 15 minutes left in the first half.
Santa Clara soon had its last good opportunity of the first half, getting deep into SMC territory before missing a penalty kick to come away empty handed. Taking advantage of this, Saint Mary's immediately put Santa Clara back on the defensive by driving deep into Broncos territory. After several minutes of intense play, Joey Reavey finally broke through for the Gaels' fourth try, draining any momentum Santa Clara might have had left. Nick Schlobohm added another try a minute later thanks to a great run by Kyle Peterson and the rout was officially on.
Maloney and Ryan Pratt each added tries in the closing minutes of the first half and the score stood 43-3 at halftime. In the second half, Schlobohm and Tommy Wallace would add two tries each and Maloney, Pratt, Peterson, Chase Herring, and Bradley Roberts each added one. Another try was also scored by McGowan on a ridiculous steal and subsequent 75-meter run that provided an amazing highlight for the day.
With the win, Saint Mary's advances to the national semifinals and will next face Lindenwood University. That game will take place next May 3 in Moraga.
