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.

The Pigs traveled to Winona over the weekend for a match versus the college side.  The team traveled a little lighter than they would have liked, but were ready for a good match.

The Winona team was a strong club and matched up with the Pigs quite well across the board.  The Pigs opened slow and put a strong push on at the end of the match, but came up on the losing side with a score of 22-32.  The Bombers followed the Pigs with a nice win from the young fellas.

Pigs Big Hitter – Zac Bauer

Pigs Man of the Match – Grant Dietrich

Bombers Best Forward – Dan

Bombers Best Back – JJ

It was the first game of the Spring.  There were a few snow patches still cluttered on the field, but for the most part, the grass was ready for some ball.  The Pigs took the field for the first time under new Head Coach Pietila.  Excitement grew as they drew one of their largest draw of fans in quite some time.

The game was back to back through the first half.  The Sioux Falls team having won their first birth in the West Championships was showing they belonged at a higher level of competition.  The Pigs battled back throughout the day.  Sioux Falls found the tri zone first with a push from their pack over the middle.  They took a second score to go into the half with a 12-0 lead.

The Pigs were confident in their skills with their off season work showing in their level of fitness.  The controlled the second half.  The mud slowed play considerably not allowing the Pigs backs to show some of their speed.  Thus the pack had to carry a heavier load.  The Pigs first score came from a break through by Ben Mattox.  He gave an off load to Ben Hanson, who then passed it over to new Pig Greg Parsons.

The Pigs needed a few more minutes to continue their push, but time expired as they were ready to take the lead.  Final score 12-7.

Thanks to Macalaster Rugby for bringing a team out to play the Bombers.  The muddy conditions keep this score low, but it was a great learning experience for the younger Pigs.

Tries:  Greg Parsons (1)

Conversions:  Paul Staats (1-1)

Penalties:  Paul Staats (0-1)

Pigs Man of the Match:  Ben Mattox

Pigs Big Hitter:  Erik Gustaf

Bombers Best Back:   Zac Chamberlin

Bombers Best Pack:  Tyler Moe-Slepica

The Saint Paul Pigs took on the Minneapolis Killer Bs on this Saturday morning.  It had been raining for the majority of the week, but today the sun came out and it appeared to be a great day for rugby.  The Pigs controlled the first 15 minutes of the first half, playing the majority of the time in Minneapolis’s end.  However a small error from the Pigs allowed the Killer Bs to take the ball on a 95 meter break away and they opened the score at 0-7.  The Pigs continued control the ball however another mistake gave the Bs another try.

The Pigs determined to keep it close took control with their pack.  Cros took the ball over the line to bring the score to 7-14.  The Killers Bs took one more in before the half to bring the score to 7-21.  The Pigs were very much still in the game having controlled a good portion of the first half.  However a couple breakdowns led to Minneapolis points.

The Pigs worked the second half like the first, but mistakes continued to plague the Saint Paul team.  With 15 minutes to play the Pigs were looking up at a 7-42 score.  A lot of teams at this point would have thrownin the towel.  Words of, “let’s embarrass them” came from some of the younger Bs players.  This seemed to spark some life in the Pigs and they decided they were not going down without a fight.  The Pigs smashed into the Minneapolis team with the pack taking control once again.  This time Kroost took the ball in to give the Pigs another try.  This continued to build life into the Pigs.

The Pigs took the ball off the kick off and began working the backline.  Rubber broke through the line with some fabulous footwork.  He put a perfect grub kick through the defence, Dietrich broke through the line and dove for the ball and slide across the try line on his belly.  With time dwindling down the backs again went to work their magic.  New center, Andy, found the ball in his hands and broke down the sideline, he pulled the defence towards him and tossed a perfect pass again to Dietrich, bursting down the sideline Dietrich again found the try zone.  With the final whistle, the score read 24-42.  Not a win for the day, but a great effort by the Pigs.

Scoring

Bannon (1)

Martin (1)

Dietrich (2)

Penalty Kicks

Michno – 0 for 1

Conversions

Michno – 2 for 4

The Pigs having good numbers one the day were able to field a good looking bombers squad.  Some of the ageless old boys filled in with some of the younger players.  The bombers controlled the majority of the game with tries being brought in by Goose and someone else, who I’m sure put in an amazing try.  Final score of the second match was 12-0 in favor of the Bombers squad.

The Pigs finished league play with a 75-0 win over Faribault.  Great play by everyone.  The Bombers took the field against River Falls.  Following the match I overheard a player say while throwing back a frosty beverage, “Well winning isn’t everything.”

Next comes Green Bay!

The Saint Paul Pigs played a tough match on Saturday against the Killer Bs.  However, victory was not on their side this day.  The Bombers were able to take home a victory in the B-side match.  The day continued with the social at the Half Time Rec.  Thanks to the 5 Minneapolis Killer B players for attending the social.  Click here for the full match report.

Last Saturday the 15th the Saint Paul Pigs took on the Banshees rugby team in their annual Spring game.  It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon for rugby.  The first half both found both teams pounding on each other between the 22’s.  The Banshees found the try zone first and put up a 5-0 score.  They followed with a second try and increase their lead to 12-0.  The Pigs first try came from Scott Colby with a gallop down the side line.  Colby followed with a second try through the middle of the Banshee back line to close the score.  At half time the Banshees held a slight advantage over the Pigs.  In the second half the heat caught up to the Pigs and they weren’t able to close the gap any further.  Thanks to everyone who made it out and to those strong souls who stepped up to play both A and B side matches.