Yale Rugby makes it to Quarterfinals in Vegas

Yale traveled to Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon and arrived prepared and ready to complete in the Las Vegas 7’s.  After a one sided victory in the first match versus Claremont Colleges, Yale gets defeated by U.C. Davis, but bounces back to defeat Nebraska and make it to the quarterfinals.

Game 1 v Yale 28 Claremont 0

Team Roster

1. Nick Lombardo
2. Phil Constantinou replaced 9 by Nick Finger
3. Ross Brendel
4. Rob Morse
5. Arturo Zindel-Mundet
6. Ryan Vandersloot replaced 11 by Matthew Shipsey
7. Mack Hull replaced 12 by Pete Wilczynski

Match Report

Impressive game considering this was the first breath of fresh air the team has played in. Claremont had possession for first 2 minutes and Yale put up a great goal line defense, turned the ball and Vandersloot went the distance. Yale pressures on kickoff, maintains possession and Vandersloot off to the races again. Claremont sees some ball, great tackling by Yale. Second half sees Claremont pressured by Yale defense, with all 7 players and replacements playing extremely smart to hold on to the ball. Quick thinking and quick pressure sees Morse take the corner for a try. Zindel –Mundet also scores a try and converts all 4 tries. Yale suffers a big blow when Zindel-Mundet realizes hand is broken after the game - slight fracture.

Game 2 UC Davis 36 Yale 0

Team Roster

1. Nick Lombardo replaced by Wasson Ayele at 7
2. Phil Constantinou
3. Ross Brendel
4. Rob Morse
5. Matthew Shipsey
6. Ryan Vandersloot
7. Mack Hull replaced 7 by Sam Power

Match Report

Everything that went right in Game 1 went wrong in Game 2. UC Davis is an excellent team and kept the ball from Yale. UC Davis pressured Yale into mistakes and most of these turned into tries. Yale's tackling and defensive organization goes missing. A flat response to a good first game.

Game 3 Yale 26 Nebraska 0

Team Roster

1. Nick Lombardo
2. Phil Constantinou replaced by Nick Finger 11
3. Wasson Ayele
4. Rob Morse replaced by Sam Power 10
5. Matthew Shipsey
6. Ryan Vandersloot
7. Mack Hull replaced by Pete Wilczynski 11

Match Report

Yale bounces back and goes back to taking the direct route. Organization returns and defense denies Nebraska breaks. Good ball movement and hard rucking put Vandersloot away for 3 tries. Yale gets back its go forward mentality and exploits Nebraska. Good work around the contact area leads to good turnover ball - credit to forwards for this effort. Ayele has outstanding game and is rewarded with a second half try, breaking 4 tackles and carrying 2 into the try zone. 3 of 4 tries converted by Shipsey.

Yale Team scoring for Day 1

Ryan Vandersloot (25 points)
Arturo Zindel-Mundet (13 points)
Matt Shipsey (6 points)
Wasson Ayele (5 points)
Rob Morse (5 points)

Yale Coach: John Broker

Tomorrow

Cup Quarterfinal 10 AM Field 2  vs .Bowling Green