The Pigs won their first round of playoffs, 12-5 against the Green Bay Celtics.  Great win for the Pigs squad.  Our next playoff match will be at home on April 14th versus Fond Du Lac.  The full match report can be found here.

Saturday, September 17th

St. Paul vs. Minneapolis Mayhem

The day was cool and slightly overcast.  A great day to open up league play.  Although the score didn’t necessarily indicate it, the Mayhem’s skills have improved over the last few years and a good match was enjoyed by each team.  New Pig Aaron ran very hard at Center and led the team with five tries on the day earning Man of the Match.  Another new Pig, Dave, showed how tough he was and won big hitter.  78-0 in favor of the Pigs.

The second match of the day was Pigs versus Lakehead.  The teams were very evenly matched.  The first half was back and forth with neither team able to get points on the board.  With seconds to play in the first half, Lakehead found a hole and found the try zone.  Unable to convert, they led the match 5-0.

The second half opened with more of the same.  The Pigs were in position on a couple of penalties to convert for points, but the windy conditions made finding the posts difficult.  Finally a good opporunity arose directly in front of the posts and the Pigs closed the gap 5-3.  The Pigs continued to push, however like the first half Lakehead found a couple of gaps in the defense and was able to push through 2 more tries.  With 12 minutse to play Lakehead led 19-3.

The Pigs determined to keep pushing, lead a surge in the closing minutes.  The Pigs first try of the day was on a sensational run by Soft Porn.  He zig-zagged his was through the defense to close the gap 19-10.  The Pigs could now feel as though a comeback was possible.  With 5 minutes to play, the ball came out of the scrum and down the backline.  Padre looking like he was a spry 29 year old tossed the ball out to SoftPorn, who sucked in the defense, then made a magnificent pass to Dietrich.  Dietrich sensing Padre looping along the line flipped the ball to the end.  Padre realizing the defense was up tight, put down a perfect grubber that he was able to chase down and score the try.  With the score now reading 14-19, it was close, but time was not on the Pigs side.

The Pigs again took control of the ball.  Pushing hard into the Lakehead side of the field, backs and pack alike took turns taking the ball closer to the try line.  With less than a minute to play, young Greg Lehmicke took the ball straight into 5 Lakehead forwards and found a seam to push the ball into the try zone.  The Pigs came out victorious 20-19.

Having used all his old man strength in the game, Padre was unable to make it to the social to accept man of the match, but Ben Mattox stepped up to accept the award.  Great work on the day to everyone!

The Pigs opened league play with a win over the Minneapolis Mayhem.  The Bombers followed with a win versus Lakehead.  Great work to everyone who came out, especially those who ended up playing over 80 minutes of rugby.  Click here for the full match report.

Saturday, May 14th the Pigs took of the University of Minnesota.  It was a rather chilly 45 degrees at game time with a slight rain coming down.  Not ideal conditions, especially for this time of year.  The Pigs this Spring have come close in a number of matches, this match was one they were ready to win and felt the needed to win. 

The team dominated play from the start.  The Pigs defense had finally come together and they continually pushed the young U of MN squad back.  The U had a few very nice plays, but for the most part the Pigs were able to shut them down.  At the whistle the final score was St. Paul 30, U of MN 19.  Great work to everyone who played in the match and special thanks to our fans and the Bombers who weren’t able to get in this match.

Scoring:  Valek, Peterson, Bauer, Grand Pre

Conversions:  Michno:  2 for 4

Penalty Kicks:  Michno:  2 for 2

Big Hitter:  Zac Bayer

Man of the Match:  Stephan Grand Pre

Pigs win 30 – 19 over the U of MN on Saturday.  Thanks to all the fans for getting out on a cold and blistery day.  Click here for the full match report.