For 45 minutes, College Park stood toe to toe with perennial league champion East Palo Alto. Through a strong kicking game and a gritty defense, College Park led the Razorbacks 14-10 ten minutes into the second half. However, the team wasn’t able to sustain the energy needed to keep the powerful home team from opening up the scoreline, eventually falling 36-14. College Park was brilliant in the first half, mixing in field positioning kicks with strong drives from their forwards. As has been the theme of the 2009 team, the lineouts were a strength, frustrating the home team and baiting them into multiple penalties. The forwards were unintimidated by the much larger EPA pack, repeatedly holding the line when the Razorbacks sent their big boys on crashes. The backs held their own as well, stunting the exciting wide game that EPA is legendary for. However, when the Razorbacks were given room, they were effective as shown in the first score of the game, a 60 meter dash from their outside center that was uncoverted. College Park answered moments later when flanker Eddy Magana ’09 crashed over on a penalty run. The extra points were added, giving them a 7-5 lead. The second half saw EPA pick up a second try, though College Park answered back moments later when Anson Bigelow ’09 rumbled in from 30 meters out. With the conversion, College Park took the lead 14-10 and realized they had an opportunity to upset one of the top teams in Northern California. Unfortunately, the energy for first up tackles began to fade as the boys tired under the relentless EPA attack. The home team began to get the space they needed to be a dangerous team. The final 20 minutes saw EPA add a few tries and secure the win. Despite the loss, much was gained by College Park. They realized that fitness, not skill/experience was an issue and that despite that, they can officially run with the big boys. College Park will need to fine tune their shortcomings this week, as next week’s matchup with last year’s league runner ups, San Mateo, will again be a huge test. Fullback Ryan Parrette ’09 and 8-man Anson Bigelow ’09 were rewarded for their efforts with the man-of-the-match jackets.

The JVs hosted the Berkeley frosh/soph squad, and were also handed a loss, though they held their own against the more experienced visitors. Boasting many sophmores that faced the College Park Varsity in the Kick Off Tournament two weeks ago, Berkeley used their skill and size in the backline to outlast home team. The JVs will be back at it next week, traveling to Marin to take on the Highlanders. Marin defeated the JVs last month in a preseason game. College Park will be looking to build on their last two games and gain some revenge.

College Park Rugby christened their new home field at Bellarmine College Prep with a sound 19-10 victory over Live Oak. This marked the first time College Park played a full game on Bellarmine’s campus, though they’ve been practicing on campus all year. The team was fired up for their first league matchup of the season. College Park got on the board about 10 minutes in when center Garrett McCoy ’09 found a seam in the defense and took advantage of the opening to zip through the opposing centers and slam the ball down in the try zone, scoring College Park’s first try of the game. The score from 20 meters out was made possible by the first of many successful lineouts that brought the ball inbounds in College Park’s possession. Ryan Parrette ’09 calmly made the following kick and College Park was up 7-0. Most of the remainder of the first half was marred by many stoppages, with both sides endeavoring but unable to score. Luckily for the boys in white, Will Bordenave ’10 ensured that the lineouts were again superb, winning or forcing bad throws by Live Oak on over half of the Acorns’ put-ins. The scrum was steady, though not as dominant as it had been in previous games. Fortunately, College Park struck again 10 minutes before the end of the first half when lock Tim O’Hara ’10 powered his way through the defense after multiple forward crashes steadily moved the ball towards the try zone. Parette’s conversion was good, and College Park led 14-0. Unfortunately, College Park let down moments before halftime as Live Oak’s center slipped his way through the defense for an unconverted try. This made the score 14-5 at half, and closer than College Park would have liked it to be upon reaching halftime. The second frame was much like the first, with both teams breaking up moments of great play with knock-ons and turnovers. Live Oak corrected some of their lineout issues and used the resulting possessions to get on the board, with their center finding pay dirt in College Park’s try zone once again. The score became 14-10 and remained there for most of the half, with both teams pressuring the opposing defenses only to come away with no points. However, with only seconds remaining, College Park stole possession in their own half of the field and worked their way downfield, ultimately ending with McCoy punctuating their win with a try at the whistle. The victory put the team at 5-0 for the first time since 1999. Though the team played well enough to win against Live Oak, they will need to put forth a huge effort next week when they head to East Palo Alto to take on the reigning league champs, the Razorbacks.

The JV game was a barnburner with over ten combined tries scored. Unfortunately, Live Oak had to forfeit the match because of a lack of players. However, College Park split their own players up and played a hugely entertaining game of 10 on 10. The experience and effort will benefit them when they host Berkeley’s JV team next Saturday. As a whole, the young College Park players are coming together quite impressively and look forward to succeeding in the rest of the season.

Behind a very strong physical performance from the forwards and major teamwork from the backs, College Park went 3-0 to win the Bronze Championship at the 2009 Kickoff Tournament in Sacramento.  Over 30 teams and their fans were on hand on a beautiful day in the state’s capital. 

The first game was against a young Berkeley side, and though College Park started a bit slow, they rolled in three tries in the last 10 minutes of the first half by Will Bordenave ’10, Ben Roach ’10, and Ryan Parrette ’09.  Parrette added 2 of 3 conversions to give College Park a 19-0 lead.  In the second frame, the team kept possession and methodically worked their way down the field over and over, and rewarded with another try from game day captain Will Bordenave.  Final score 26-0.

The second game was against the Lancers who played College Park to a standstill.  Parrette missed two difficult penalty kicks from 40 meters out (though he was not helped by the crooked posts).  Strong defense from the forward pack kept the Lancers inside their half for most of the game, but College Park was unable to come away with any points.  With no time remaining and a spot in the championship on the line, The Lancers lined up for a deep penalty kick of their own, which was missed left.  College Park gathered the miss and Garrett McCoy ’09 sent a high ball to the right sideline.  Mikey Schwarz ’09 gathered the bounding ball and set a platform for his brother Timmy Schwarz ’10 who spun the ball wide to Richie Paris ’09.  Paris offloaded to Eddie Magana ’09 who threw an over the shoulder hook pass, that made the coaches cringe, which landed right in the lap of winger Stuart Thomas ’09.  Thomas  sped his way to the goal line and dove in the left corner for an amazing game winning try with no time, that sent College Park to the finals.

The boys came out flat in the finals against a very physical Davis side.  The opening kickoff saw Davis knock the ball loose into the College Park try zone, which they dove on for a quick 7-0 advantage.  Minutes later, it was Davis again smashing in for a 12-0 lead after the missed 2-pt conversion.  Things were not looking good as Davis kept the pressure on, but center Garret McCoy was able to intercept a floating pass and outrun the defense for an 80 yard try (though he was moving like a prop for the last 15!).  The conversion was true and College Park was down only 12-7 at the intermission.  The second half saw a new, re-energized College Park team take the field.  They pounded the Davis forwards at every opportunity, led by numerous positive grade tackles from lock Tim O’Hara ’10 and newcomer Hendee Wall ’10.  The backs sured up their tackling, which was a main issue in the first half.  The teams traded offensive opportunities only to be stiffled by the defenses, until McCoy broke through and offloaded to fellow center Kyle Burton ’10 who centered the ball for a 12-12 tie.  Parrette came through with the conversion and College Park walked away with a 14-12 victory and champions of the bronze division.

The set piece (scrums and lineouts) were once again the strength of the team, and the forwards were great in the ruck, setting up clean ball for the backs who were dangerous with the center crashes.  However, the tactical kicking game and spreading the field were areas that College Park needs to improve.  You can bet those facets will be worked on at length this week in practice, in preparation for the first ever rugby game at Bellarmine, next week against league rivals Live Oak.  The three wins also improved the team’s 2009 record to 4-0.

College Park secured its first win of the ’09 season with a 46-3 victory over South Bay (Valley Christian) at Live Oak Highschool. This after its first test, a scrimmage against Santa Clara University’s 2nd side two weeks ago. While the team looked nervous and a bit hesitant against the college kids, they came ready to play against their south bay rivals. Facing a strong win in the first half, they kept the ball in hand and after playing evenly for the first 15 minutes, the team exploded for 3 tries, while surrendering one penalty kick. In the second half, College Park took advantage of the wind at their backs by repeatedly pinning South Bay inside their 22 with tactical kicks from flyhalf Ben Roach ’10 and fullback Ryan Parrette ’09. The strategy worked, as the College Park lineout, which was dominating all day (along with their scrums), stole numerous ball and turned them into four tries. With the addition of a penalty kick, and all four conversions, College Park walked away with a 46-3 win. Newcomer Garrett McCoy ’09 & Damian Daszynski ’10 earned back and forward man of the match.

The JV team also got a run in Morgan Hill by teaming up with the Live Oak JVs to take on Sacramento power Mother Load. The team from the north walked away with a win, but it was a great experience for the College Park frosh/sophs, and yet another step towards becoming an exciting unit after its great showing against Marin last weekend.

Next week the Varsity team will be leaving San Jose bright and early (7:00am) to travel to Sacramento for the Kickoff Tournament, which includes over 30 teams from Northern California, and also a few from the Northwest and Canada.

Varsity Scoring: Tries- Garrett McCoy, Ben Roach, Timmy Schwarz ’10, Ray Berkeley ’10, Anson Bigelow ’09, Stuart Thomas ’09, Eddie Magana ’09 Conversions- Garrett McCoy 0 of 2, Ryan Parette 4 of 5, Penalty Kick- Ryan Parrette 1 of 1

College Park completed a very successful summer sevens season, with the highschool team finishing 9-4, while playing only one other highschool squad.  Since only Peninsula Green and College Park entered highschool teams, the boys were forced to play both college & men’s teams.  They held their own, finishing 6-2 against the older teams during the three weekends (3-2 vs Peninsula Green).  College Park alumni (& friends) also came back and entered a team, and they finished an impressive 11-2 against the likes of San Jose State, Santa Clara University, and a hand full of men’s teams.  Overall, everybody had a great time and undoubtedly improved their skills for the upcoming 2009 15s season.  We’re hoping to add more players next summer and improve upon this year’s results.