NCSU 61 vs UNCC 7

Saturday's game was one people talk about, in the low 20's with rain and
snow it was one to remember. NC State dominated the field starting strong
with 3 straight scores before allowing the only score of the game for UNC
Charlotte which was off a 5-meter lineout. State dominated the set pieces
and loose play possession, creating and taking many opportunities to
score. State then began the pounding as they pushed themselves to a 61 to
7 victory over the 49ers, scoring many tries off set pieces as well as by
creating opportunities in the loose via tactical kicking, suave stepping,
and hard pick and drives. "Everyone came to play," said coach Jeremy
Goodwin, "we have so many great athletes this year." Our backline showed
a new found command on the game as they moved the ball down the field.
The B side also played with a passion but was cut short due to extreme
weather in a 5-5 decision. NC State rugby is ready to make a push this
season and continue the dominance on the way to a flawless season. The
man of the match was Wes Hockaday, given the honor for his powerful runs
off the back of the scrum and 3 try performance.

This past weekend, February 9th and 10th,  Charlotte, NC played host to the Wolfpack’s first tournament of the much anticipated spring season. Going into the weekend a lot of the team was unsure of what the outcome would be and how the team would respond to certain match-ups that had not gone our way in the past. Saturday play included three games of pool play and one cross-over game from another pool that started at 10 am and finished at 5 pm. The first round game was a rematch against Edinboro College from Pennsylvania. In the fall they had frustratingly out-played the Pack and the team was eager to prove that they were much better than they had played then. The first round game was close, NC State ended up winning 13-10 after a heated game with several momentum swings. The next two games of pool play were against Maryland and then GA Tech respectively. Both were very solid wins for the Wolfpack and gave the team a chance to keep their spirits high and build some momentum going into a very important cross-over game against UNC. So far this season NC State and UNC have split their only two games and this next one would give a leg up in the rankings to the winner as well as give some momentum going into Sunday’s play and the rest of the season. After a slow start the Wolfpack took the lead at halftime and would never look back, winning 12-7. After a very strong Saturday the team knew they had a very legitimate chance to win the whole tournament on Sunday.

              Sunday morning’s match was a pre-quarter game against William and Mary who in the past has given NC State some trouble in very big tournaments.  However, in this game the Pack would roll, and win the game 12-8. After making it to the quarterfinals, State had its eyes set on the championship. Ohio State was the opponent in the quarters that played a very gritty game after going down early. The Wolfpack got complacent with the large second half lead they had and gave it away, finding themselves tied at 11 a piece, next point wins. After a turnover by both teams the Pack finally ended the game and kept the momentum going into the semi-finals versus Pittsburgh. Over the past year NC State and Pittsburgh have had several extremely close and heated games, this one would be no different. With several swings of momentum and a few early lead changes the game remained heated all the way until the last point was scored. The final score was 12-10 in favor of the Wolfpack. Winning the semi-finals set the stage for a storybook final versus rival UNC, who had just made a huge comeback to beat Georgia in their semi-final match-up. Both teams were completely exhausted after having already playing seven games in the weekend. This exhaustion paired with the 30 mph gusts of wind made for difficult play for the majority of the finals.  Fortunately the Pack was able to capitalize off of many of UNC’s goal line turnovers and took advantage of the fact that in this game UNC was missing a few of their all-star players. The NC State club team would end up breezing through UNC for the second time this weekend winning, 15-6 and winning the first tournament of ’08.

After this weekend NC State is ranked 5th in the nation and is looking forward to an exceptional season.

Blue Devil Relays

2nd Place- Women

3rd Place- Men

3rd Place Overall

Triple Header

NCSU 1 vs ECU 2

NCSU 8 vs ECU 3

NCSU 4 vs ECU 0