Moose, Lady Moose start strong but finally fall to tough visiting teams.
(Image Credit: Ryan Dorgan JHN&G)
Alpine’s Field of Dreams, just off the banks of Palisades Reservoir, provided an otherworldly backdrop for the 18th annual Moose’s Teton Tens home rugby tournament this past weekend.
“It’s a really special place,” Moose Coach Brian Butler said of the Field of Dreams. “It really provides a high-level of excitement and positivity for the rugby community to come together for love of the sport.”
The tournament featured men’s teams from Park City, Salt Lake City, Billings, Bozeman, Missoula and Lander, while the Lady Moose played host to four regional clubs.
The men got off to a confident showing, with a staunch defense, winning 32-5 against the Missoula Maggots in the Moose’s first game of the day.
The early victory against the Maggots pleased Coach Butler: “We took care of business the way we know how to and started the day off right.”
But a long layoff and lack of urgency doomed the Moose in their second game Saturday. The hosting team saw their chance to hoist a trophy on home turf disappear as they faced the University of Utah alumni team, which defeated the Moose 28-0. Ultimately the Utah team won the tournament.
“We were back on our heels early, and they blew us out,” said Moose player Arthur Blue.
Coach Butler called the Utah team “the class of the tournament,” adding that to compete against “a team of their caliber, we would have needed a higher work rate.”
The rest of the day saw the Moose’s B-side, captained by Blue, lose a heartbreaker 20-19 to Missoula. Blue said he was excited to see the more inexperienced players have a good game and compete in such a close match. Then the A-side players returned to the field to face Bozeman and came up short losing 10-0.
Nester Flores and Alex Knowles had strong games. Flores, who is relatively new to rugby, “adapted his game well to tens style,” Blue said. Flores helped shore up the middle of the Moose’s stingy defense throughout the weekend.
Knowles, a former Jackson resident, made the trip up from Laramie to play. “Anytime we can get [Knowles] on the side it definitely helps open it up out there,” Blue said. Butler added of Knowles, “He brings great leadership and calm for us.”
Despite the losses for the Moose, both Blue and Butler felt it was a spectacular weekend for rugby in the community. “We really like to try to be the best hosts we can and being down on the Field of Dreams only enhanced that,” Blue said.
On the women’s side, the Lady Moose put in a good weekend winning two of three. The Lady Moose eventually fell in the finals to a talented Steamboat team 15-7. Steamboat went undefeated on the day.
Individually, the Lady Moose saw Chelsea Montello play her first games with the club. She had quite a debut, scoring three tries in the team’s first two games of the day, including an impressive sprint down the spectator side. The Lady Moose beat the Slugs 21-19 after handling the Missoula club Betterside 20-10 earlier that day.
“It is so much more fun, like this weekend, when both men’s and women’s teams are playing well,” Blue said. “They cheer us on, we cheer them on, and we can really just feed off one another especially at a home tournament like this.”
The Moose and Lady Moose will be off the next two weekends before traveling to Steamboat Springs for the 44th annual Cowpie Classic on July 7.
ความคิดเห็น