D1A Rugby Playoff Outlook After Opening Round

April 18, 2016

By: Christian Portillo


MORAGA, CALIF. - Although #2 Saint Mary’s had the weekend off after concluding the regular season with a 50-11 win over Cal Poly, six other D1A teams opened the playoffs in hopes of pursuing a national title on Saturday.


The #3 Lindenwood Lions easily rolled over #17 Wheeling Jesuit, winning 89-5. The outcome was never in doubt as the Lions had a 41-0 lead going into halftime. They will face the #4 Indiana Hoosiers next Saturday in the Quarterfinals. Lindenwood was one of Saint Mary’s tougher opponents this year, as the Gaels were only able to squeak out a low-scoring 24-13 win.


The #12 Arizona Wildcats, who Saint Mary’s beat 73-7 in January, faced off against the undefeated #14 Louisiana State University Tigers. The Red River Conference Champions could only put up 10 points to the Wildcats’ 30. Arizona will play #5 Utah, whom Saint Mary’s also beat 57-50 at Utah, next Saturday in the Quarterfinals.


In the closest match of the weekend, the #6 Davenport Panthers beat the #11 San Diego State Aztecs 43-31. The young Aztecs squad, who lost to the Gaels 61-7 in February, put up a good fight against the Panthers. Davenport will play #1 Life University in their third meeting of the year.


Saint Mary’s will have to wait to see who their opponent in the Quarterfinals will be as the match between #8 Air Force and #13 Cal Poly was cancelled due to heavy snow and a severe weather storm, which caused the Denver to close its airport for safety reasons. The match is to be made up this week so that the winner can play Saint Mary’s in Moraga on Sunday, April 24.