St Paul vs St Cloud Bottom Feeders 17-12

Match Report rugger /

October 17, 2009

The Saint Paul Pigs were coming into the day 4-0 on the season. They needed a win against rival St. Cloud to wrap up a perfect season and clinch home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. A lot was on the line as St. Cloud needed a win to keep their play-off hopes alive.

The game opened up with some hard hitting from the St. Paul side. The Pigs had come to win today. The majority of the first 40 minutes was played in the Bottomfeeders end. Bethel Paul Staats put the Pigs on the board first with a penalty kick from the 25 meter mark. Score 3-0. Significant improvement was seen from the pack today and they continued to bang against the larger St. Cloud side. After continually pushing St. Cloud down the field, Animal picked up a lose ball and after some nifty running, gave the Pigs their first try of the day, with the conversion, the Pigs now led, 10-0. A small let down allowed St. Cloud control of the ball and they were able to get a try of their own. A missed conversion brought the half time score to 10-5.

In the second half, the Pigs continued where they left off. The pack continuing to control the game. Seeing a hole in the defense, Zac Bauer picked up a penalty kick and zig zagged through the Feeders defense to score a marvelous try, with the conversion the score was 17-5. The Pigs were feeling the game was in their control. St. Cloud is not a team to be taken lightly, with their backs against the wall they continued to push. With 10 minutes to go, the Pigs made a few mistakes which allowed St. Cloud to march down the field and punch in the try, closing the gap to 17-12. St. Cloud had a few changes to tie the score, but the Pigs defense held on to win 17-12.

With an undefeated record the Pigs will face the number 2 seed team out of Iowa on their home pitch on October 31st.

Tries:
Bauer (1), GrandPrè (1)

Conversions:
Colby (2)

Penalty Kicks:
Staats (1)

St Paul vs Metropolis Killer Bs 25-20

Match Report rugger /

September 26, 2009

The day was very warm for a late September day. Today the Pigs matched themselves against cross town rival Minneapolis. The Pigs came into the match 2-0 on the season and were ready for their toughest test of the season. The team was determined to come out victorious. The game opened with the Pigs slightly on their heals, giving up a quick try from the Killer Bs. Unable to make the conversion, the score opened 5-0. The Pigs were still determined, although having to come from behind. The Pigs seemed to dominate, however couldn’t punch in the ball. Metro again scored on a kick with a kind bounce. Making the conversion the score now read, 12-0. The Pigs still pushed things on the Minneapolis side of the field, however could only muster up 3 points going into the half. Being down 12-3 was not the way this Pigs team wanted to start things out.

Entering the second half the Killer Bs continued where they had left off by adding a try and a penalty kick to open the gap 20-3. The Pigs were controlling the ball, however a few mistakes had allowed the game to start getting out of reach. With the pack struggling slightly in the scrums, the backs had to step up their play. Off some nice back play, Oz took off on a 60 meter run, but got caught just meters short of the try line. A penalty kept the ball in the Pigs hands, although Oz had to leave the game with an injury on the play. The pack seeing an opportunity banged it to Minneapolis over and over again, until Kramer was able to take the ball around the outside for a nice try in the corner. The conversion missed, closing the gap to 20-8.

Seeing the game now within reach, the Pigs stepped up their play and started to control the ball. Off a scrum, Colby took the ball and flipped it off to Dietrich, who split the back line and made a nice 50 meter run down the field for a second try to bring the score to 20-15. Minneapolis, getting called for a number of penalties in the second half were starting to get frustrated. One of those penalties came with less than 10 minutes to play. Jason Naber coming in to ignite a spark, split the posts to bring the Pigs to within 2 points. With the score closing, the Pigs were now fighting against the clock.

With just a few minutes to play, the Pigs had a scrum inside Minneapolis 22 meter line. Colby called a grubber, slightly aggressive this close to the try zone. He placed a beautiful kick that bounced perfectly into Dietrich’s hands. Just meters from the try line, Dietrich got caught, but Captain Andy was following close behind. Andy took the ball with two Minneapolis players on his back into the try zone. With the added conversion, the Pigs won the day 25-20.

Tries:
Hansen (1), Dietrich (1), Schwartz (1)

Conversions:
Colby (1), Naber (1)

Penalty Kicks:
Colby (1), Naber (1)

B-Side
The Bombers took the field following the Pigs mighty win. The Bombers played a good match with the Killer Bs B-side, but their youth and speed was a little too much for the Bombers. Although they were unable to bring home the win, they did get some good hits in on the opposing side.

St Paul vs Faribault 52-0

Match Report rugger /

September 12, 2009

Saturday was a beautiful day for rugby. The Saint Paul Pigs opened their season against our friends from the south, Faribault. The Pigs team was looking a little younger than in years past, and dare I say, perhaps a little fitter. This was the first league match under new head coach Jason “Ponch” Rombalski. Good things are expected for this young team.

The scoring opened early with a nice pass by Zeth to old man Dietrich. The backs were here to play today with Scott Colby taking a long run to take our second try. The pack not wanting to be out done gave it to new Pig Nate “42” Bober. 2008 back of the year Zeth took in a try himself this time and in a nice gift Colby passed the ball to Hightower to close the first half. With a score of 32-0 at halftime the Pigs were controlling the game, but still not running on all cylinders. Coach Ponch has a few choice words for the team, hoping to spark some intensity.

Jimbo had taken a pretty good hit to the face in the first half that opened up a nice cut. He was replaced by military man Oz. Oz didn’t let this opportunity go to waste and scored a nice try to open the second half. Zeth showing his new slim physique, took in his second try of the day. The final try had Rubber showing he still has some moves, taking one in to give the Pigs a final score of 52 – 0. A good day for the entire squad.

Tries:
Dietrich (1), Colby (1), Bober (1), Spreadbury (2), Backman (1), Ozman (1), Lang (1)

Conversions:
Colby (4)

St Paul vs Metropolis Killer Bs 40-15

Match Report rugger /

October 11, 2008

On a beautiful fall Saturday afternoon, Saint Paul took the field against an old rival in league play for the first time in several years. This season Metroplis is fielding a D-3 squad, who had started strong this season with just one loss coming into this match. But the Pigs came in with an unblemished 4-0 league record, and wanted to keep the streak alive.

The first half started pretty evenly, as a breakaway try by Grant Dietrich for the Pigs was answered by a Metropolis penalty and a 5-3 score. As the first half wore on, however, the Pigs gained more and more possession and consistently won rucks and mauls to retain the ball and move closer to a 2nd try. It finally came after a long period of sustained pressure inside the opposing 22, when Zach Fjelstad took a quick pass off a ruck and dove in for the try. Conversion was good – 12-3 for Saint Paul. Soon after the Pigs were on the score sheet again, as Jason Naber made a long break down the sideline followed by a no-look pass to Ryan Backman in support who centered the try, which was convereted for a 19-3 lead going into halftime.

The second half started with more of the same, as the Pigs camped out in the Metro 22, and finally the breakthrough came as Naber ran right through the opposing scrum half to touch down for the score. He then converted his own try for a 26-3 lead. A defensive miscue then allowed a long breakaway and a Metropolis try to cut the advantage to 26-8. The Pigs stormed right back though, and minutes after narrowly missing out on a try, Scott Colby was able to power in after a nice period of possession. Paul Staats converted this one and the Pigs lead 33-8. Our opponents managed a converted try to cut the lead to 33-15 with about 10 minutes to play – but the Pigs answered right back and closed the scoring with a nice move from Joe Lang who scored after some nice combination work by the Pigs’ back 3, leaving the final score at 40-15.

All in all, it was an outstanding performance by the whole Pigs team to move to 5-0 in league play with only one regular season match remaining.

Line Up:
1. Lauri Kahonen (Ben Hanson), 2. Alan Martin, 3. Joe Exner (Troy Midboe), 4. Ryan Backman, 5. Stephan GrandPrè, 6. Joe Bayer (Nicholas Bannon), 7. Zach Fjelstad , 8. Jason Naber (Mason Hendricks), 9. Dietrich Peterson, 10. Paul Staats, 11. Joe Lang, 12. Seth Spreadbury, 13. Jim Mlenek, 14. Grant Dietrich (Andy Schwartz), 15. Scott Colby

Scoring:
Tries: Dietrich, Fjelstad, Backman, Naber, Colby, Lang
Consversions: Naber (3/4), Staats (2/2)