November 2, 2002
In the last game of the fall 2002 season the Pigs came out looking sharp and intense. The early pressure forced some mistakes by the Banshees and after several good phases the Pigs took an early 7 – 0 lead through a Danny Kiefer try and Brandon Johnson conversion. After several more Pigs’ scoring opportunities went to waste the Banshees came back with a try of their own to cut the lead to 7 – 5, and it looked like the first half would end with that score. In injury time, however, the Pigs took advantage of a Banshees defensive lapse when Joe Lang kicked a nice grubber through the defenese and Brandon Johnson ran it down in the try zone for the score. The conversion was good, and it was 14 – 7 at half.
The second half saw a bit of a momentum change, and the Banshees were able to fight back with a converted try and a penalty to take a 15 – 14 lead. The Pigs refused to give up, however, and with less than 10 minutes left Brandon Johnson was able to get in for another try and a 19 – 15 Pigs lead. Unfortunately, the back and forth nature of the match continued, and the Banshees came back one more time with a converted try of their own to go back on top 22 – 19. A last ditch effort for the Pigs came up a little short as time ran out on the match and the fall season.
A third half saw a nice mixture of some new players for the Pigs alongside some wily veterans getting a match in. Joe Lang scored the lone Pigs try, chasing down his own kick to fall across the line and touch the ball down for a final score of 12 – 7.
Pigs’ Lineup
1-Ben Hanson,2-Danny Kiefer,3-Luke Utting,4-Grizzly Malchow,5-Joe Huberty,6-Mike Lundberg,7-Zach Bauer,8-Mike Hankee,9-Brandon Johnson,10-Scott Colby,11-Steve King(Philip Wagner),12-Joe Lang,13-Will Bryant,14-Jason Rombalski,15-Grant Dietrich
Scoring
Saint Paul 19 – 3 tries (Johnson 2, Kiefer), 2 conversions (Johnson)
Banshees 22 – 3 tries, 2 conversions, penalty