September 14, 2002
This Pigs vs. Metropolis match took place at the National Sports Center in Blaine as part of the All-Minnesota college tournament. This provided for a larger than usual number of spectators on the sidelines for this rivalry match-up. Unfortunately for the Pigs, they witnessed another Metropolis victory. Using a strong wind and some good tactical kicking in the first half, Metropolis outscored the Pigs 4 tries to none for a 22-0 half time lead.
Playing with the wind in the second half the Pigs showed some signs of life and controlled possession inside the Metropolis 22 for a long stretch. This persistent pressure finally paid off when Joe Lang took a quick tap penalty and ran in himself to score from 7 meters out. After the ensuing kick, the Pigs again camped out in the Metropolis end and looked ready to further chip away at the lead. Some untimely penalties turned the tide, however, and Metropolis was able to clear the ball away from danger.
The rest of the second half was mainly played at midfield until a late converted try from Metropolis sealed the win and closed the scoring at 29-5. All in all, it was an improvement on last week’s performance, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.
A shortened second match was played, with an unfortunately similar result, as Metropolis won 31-0.
Pigs’ Lineup
1-Tom Rubey,2-Danny Kiefer(Ben Hanson),3-Luke Utting,4-Grizzly Malchow,5-Jason Naber(Leon DeLange),6-Jaco Swanepoel,7-Zach Bauer(Phil Wagner),8-Mike Hankee,9-Brandon Johnson(Jason Rombalski),10-Bill Bridgeman(Pio Piliami),11-Grant Dietrich,12-Scott Colby,13-Will Bryant,14-Jaffrey Blanks,15-Joe Lang
Scoring
Metropolis 29 – 5 tries, 2 conversions
Saint Paul 5 – 1 try (Lang)