Category 2012 Photos

On a sunny eighty degree day, the Cougars kicked off their Fall season against their old foes, Coastal Carolina. It was an intense match, with lots of hard hitting and yellow cards to both sides. New flanker Darius Rivers running guys over multiple times.  Coastal jumped out in front with two tries thanks to poor passing in the backline, which was better remedied in the first half. The Cougars got on the board finally after a long kick by fullback Ian Mueller gave Charleston the field position they needed to smash the ball over the line.When Coastal was called for a penalty Prop Dylan Alford demanded to finish the job himself, which he did so with force. New Flyhalf Tim O’Donnel made the conversion, and the Cougars were down 7-14. In the second half, a lack of fitness became apparent, and Coastal was able to break through and score another try thanks to a succession of penalties. But tje Cougars came back again, making two huge goaline stands and scoring two more tries. Dylan Alford got his second, and former captain George Woolston added a third with incredible ball play between the new wing, Tyler Williams. Tim then converted one of those two kicks, score 21-19. However, the better fit coastal managed to get one last try at the end of the game, final score 26-19.

Man of the Match: Dylan Alford for an all-around great game a prop.

Dick of the Day: Darius Rivers full telling the ref that his call was “bull” and then getting thrown in the bin.

The College brought an extremely young squad to the 4th annual Southern Rugby Conference Tournament, and finished a disappointing 1 and 4. The first game was a relatively easy win over the Citadel, 19-5. Two tries were scored by Ian Mueller and one by Chris Natoli. Mueller converted two of three. The Lander game was a tough loss, 22-15, as Lander scored on the very last play of the game after picking up a knock-on inside their own 22. Tries were scored by Ian Mueller, Tim O’Donnell and Chris Natoli. Mueller missed two conversions, O’Donnell missed one. The third game was played against Furman, who won by a deceptively wide 10 point margin (17-7). Hooker Chris Natoli suffered a broken rib and punctured lung in the game. However, illegal substitutions by Furman were duly noted after the game and a protest was lodged which docked Furman of a try, final official score 10-7. Freshman Winger Will Shanahan earned his zulu and O’Donnell converted the kick. The Cougars then faced undefeated Coastal, and once again lost on the last play, final score 12-7. The lone try was scored by Mueller and conversion made by O’Donnell. Thanks to the successful protest, the Cougars actually advanced to the Championship Bracket the next day in the last place slot. (They allowed the least amount of points scored compared to the three other teams who also went 1 and 3). They faced UNC Greensboro, the first seed (4-0) and lost 24-5. Once again, a deceptively wide margin, it was 10 to 5 at half time and UNCG’s fourth try was scored on the last play of the game after a questionable penalty for diving in the ruck. The lone Cougar try was scored off a penalty quick-tap by Mueller. UNCG would go on to defeat Coastal in the Championship game. Considering the level of inexperience on the team, it was not a terrible weekend. There were only four returning players from Spring 2012, and one of them broke his rib in the Furman game. Three other members had high-school rugby experience, and the remaining 7 who accompanied the team had none.

Men of the Match: Center/Prop Darius Rivers and Prop Taylor Tober for playing outstanding defense in their first ever rugby games.

Dicks of the Day: Ian Mueller and Tim O’Donnell. Mueller vomited three separate times due to heat exhaustion and dehydration. Although in the Coastal game he chased his own kick 80m down field, forced the Coastal Fullback out of bounds, proceeded to begin throwing up,  then kept it down long enough to score a try before collapsing in the try zone. O’Donnell simply made poor decisions and paid for it after the Citadel game with several minutes of violent puking.