Pigs vs Fariabault 40-0

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May 19, 2007

On an unseasonably hot Saturday, the Pigs took on a visiting Faribault Boksprings side in Eagan, and came through with a 40-0 victory to end the spring season on a high. We scored 3 tries in each half – ?, Chris and Nate in the first half, followed by Johann, Ponch, and the other Nate in the 2nd half. Billy kicked 5 of 6 conversions to round out the scoring. (apologies for the lack of detail – if anyone else remembers more, let us know and we’ll add it in)

Pigs vs Banshees 10-21

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May 12, 2007

On this Saturday St Paul took on old rivals the Eastside Banshees with an early 10:30 start time. This did not deter the Pigs, however, as we got off to a quick start and had a majority of the possession. Unfortunately, however, the possession advantage was not capitalized upon, and the Pigs were only able to take a 3-0 lead, through a Scott Colby penalty, into the half. In the second half, the Banshees started to gain the advantage, and ended up scoring 3 tries – offset by a Pigs try on a great solo effort by Grant Dietrich who countered from a kick, kicked back, tracked down the ball and outran the Banshee defense to score.

So a good effort ended in a 21-10 loss, but showed lots of promising signs as we build toward our league season in the fall. Following the match, the Pigs Old Boys took on the Banshess, but also came out on the losing end. This was followed, however, by a wonderful Pig Roast with food, bevarage and fun for all, and some good fundraising for the club.

All Saints Tournament, St Cloud

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April 28, 2007

The Pigs travelled to St. Cloud to join in the annual All-Saints tournament. With a scheduled first match against the St. Cloud Bottom Feeders, the Pigs were geared up and ready to go. The Pigs came out strong in the first half, with Bill Bridgeman scoring an early try. The Feeders kept the match close in the first half, though the Pigs led throughout. In the second half, the Pigs tightened up play and controlled the ball, increasing their lead to final score of:
Pigs 32, Bottom Feeders 13
(Tries: Bill Bridgeman, Twinkie, Twinkie, Seth Spreadbury, Grant Dietrich, Zach Bauer; Conversions: B. Bridgeman (1))

In a show of gentlemanly sportsmanship, the Bottom Feeders awarded the Pigs with the “Big Ass Brown Jug” traveling trophy, a new tradition.

In the second match the Pigs faced off against Metropolis B, a rematch from the previous week. While the Jazz Pigs were able to keep ball control and spend much of the game in the Metropolis half of the field, Metro managed to squeeze through the Pigs defensive line and capitalize with several tries. The Pigs kept the game competitive to the end, but were unable to slip in enough points for the win.

Off the field, the Pigs made strong recruiting efforts. Pigs players and coaches visited college matches, awarded Pigs t-shirts to collegiate “Men of the Match”, and talked with college players about our upcoming summer schedule. If you’re interested in joining the Pigs during our summer play, contact Ryan Backman at back0102@umn.edu.

St. Paul at NDSU 31-7

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April 14, 2007

The Pigs traveled up I-94 to Fargo on a sunny spring day to take on NDSU and MSU Moorhead, and came back with 2 victories. In the first match Saint Paul got off to a quick start through an early Grant Dietrich try and never looked back. 2 more Dietrich tries followed, along with scores by Ben Hanson and Josh Van Gelder, vs. a single try for NDSU. Special credit to Lau Kahonen who took over place kicking duties for the day.

Scoring:
Tries: Dietrich 3, Hanson, Van Gelder
Cons.: Kahonen (3 for 5)

St. Paul at MSU Moorhead 17-5

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April 9, 2007

In the second match against Moorhead, the same 3 players were at it again, with Dietrich, Hanson and Van Gelder each registering a try. Also notable was the hard running of centers Seth Spreadbury and Jim Mlenek, and the tough pack play led by Danny Kiefer and new Pig Chris Reis.

Scoring vs MSU Moorhead:
Tries: Dietrich, Hanson, Van Gelder
Cons.: Kahonen (1 for 3)

St. Paul at Rochester 40-24

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October 14, 2006

The Pigs winning ways continued with a 40-24 league victory in Rochester on October 14th. It was a cool windy day as the match got underway with St Paul the early agressor. Some good running by the backine was rewarded when Jim Mlenek broke through for his first try of the day. Joe Cera’s kick was good, and the Pigs led 7-0. A few minutes later, it was the forwards’ turn, as off a driving maul from a lineout 15 meters out, Cros Martin evaded a tackle and scored the second try – kick missed, 12-0 lead. The good possession for St Paul continued at this point, and another fine run and score from Jimbo increased the lead to 19.

At this point, Rochester fought back with some hard and elusive running, which together with some Pigs’ defensive lapses, allowed the Rogues to score 2 long breakway tries and cut the lead to 7 at 19-12. Fortunately for the Pigs, we were able to get one back just before half time, as Scott Colby touched down for his first try of the day. Cera’s kick was again good, and the score stood 26-12 at the half.

The second half looked to be more of the same, as Colby got his second try of the day to increase the lead to 33-12. Once again, however, the Rogues fought back with 2 more tries to again cut into the lead at 33-24. As the game wound on however, the Pigs continued to hold possession, and finally put the game away when Colby broke a number of tackles for his 3rd try of the day and the final margin of 40-24.

Lineup:
1. Joe Exner, 2. Alan Martin (Danny Keiffer), 3. Lau Kahonen, 4. Ryan Backman, 5. Mark Fredrickson, 6. Nathan Riedel (Ben Hanson), 7. Zac Bauer, 8. Josh Van Gelder (Captain), 9. Jason Rombalski, 10. Scott Colby, 11. Brett Carter, 12. Jim Mlenek (Steve King), 13. Nate Wagner (Bill Bridgeman), 14. Eric Anderson (Grant Dietrich), 15. Joe Cera

Scoring:
Tries: Colby 3, Mlenek 2, Martin
Cons.: Cera (5 for 6)

St. Paul vs. Faribault 33-12

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September 30, 2006

A gorgeous Saturday saw the Pigs come out strong early and built a 19-0 half time lead on tries by Brett “Pebbles” Carter, Jim Mlenek and Joe Cera – with Joe successfully hitting 2 of 3 conversion kicks.

Another Cera try early in the second half made it 26-0 before Faribault scored twice to cut the lead to 14 points. That was as close as the Boksprings would come, however, as a final insurance try from Scott Colby sealed the 33-12 victory for the Pigs.

Scoring:
Tries: Cera 2, Carter, Colby, Mlenek
Conversions: Cera (4/5)