Match Recap: Western Washington University

A very energized Husky pack headed for Ferndale on Saturday, ready to take on the NCRC reigning champs. The first half, it was a very close contest, defensively strong with many things going our way. Gradually, WWU worked their way onto the board and finished the half with a 15-0 lead.

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We’ve come back from worse, but after a 30-minute halftime break (an injured WWU player couldn’t be removed from the field), and WWU taking shelter in the shed, they were regrouped and came out firing, where we did not. We had a period of errors and missed tackles, and faltered on our game plan in lineouts and defensively in the backs. WWU ran away before we ultimately scored the final try of the game to finish WWU 36 – 7 UW.

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Our second XV saw nearly 30 UW players take the field, a number playing their first game, and with standout performances from a couple who will likely start with the first XV in two weeks against Boise. They were resilient against a strong WWU second team. In a score line similar to the first side, our seconds lost 33-7.

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Frustrated players were reminded that our game plan was working, had WWU on the ropes for periods of the game, but there was a clear drop in heart at the 40-60minute marks. A couple yellow cards took any momentum we had.

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We also reminded them of our meeting last fall, where WWU won 64-14, and beat our seconds 41-0 and 50-0 in our two clashes. We continue to close the gap, but for a core group of Dawgs, this is not good enough.

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A leadership meeting will help chart the course through the bye week and the following as we head to Boise, last year’s runner up, on November 9th.