Ellensburg, Wash. - The University of Victoria men's rugby team lost to Central Washington University 38-29, in a tightly contested exhibition on the road, Jan. 25.
 
The first ten minutes saw back and forth action, characterized by emphatic hits, many of them courtesy of Dane Siebens. This was capped off by a line break in the midfield from Morgan Di Nardo, who passed it on to Reece Thompson for the finish. Matthew Bennett was successful on the convert for the 7-0 Vikes lead. 
 
In the 17th minute, Di Nardo capitalized on a Wildcat handling error, booting the ball on. Di Nardo gathered the pill and dotted it down, with his solo effort bringing the score to 12-0 for the Vikes, as Bennett's convert pushed just wide. 
 
The Wildcats answered back in the 26th minute, scoring on a calculated cross kick. The Vikes' discipline faltered thereafter, conceding consecutive penalties. Ultimately, the Wildcat forwards barged over for CWU's second try of the contest. The flags went up for the convert, bringing the score to 12-12. 
 
The 35th minute saw Alex Gamage take matters into his own hands. Following several phases of hard-nosed running from the Vikes' pack, Gamage backed himself to go all the way from outside the Wildcat's 22. Several elusive strides resulted in his diving over the try line. The convert did not find its way over, resulting in the 17-12 lead for Victoria.
 
CWU showed great resilience throughout the the first 40 minutes, coupled with troubling errors from the Vikes, amounting in the final try of the first half. The Wildcats' spread the ball wide, rewarding their wingers once more. The opposition fly-half's boot was true, and the score was 19-17 for Central Washington at the break.
 
Sion Griffiths found himself in the forwards on the day, as opposed to commanding the backs. This proved fruitful, as Griffiths spent most of his time in and amongst the action. In the 43rd minute, the 8-man decided to go quick in the midfield, following a penalty on CWU. This resulted in Brendan Kim "unhooking the trailer," as the big man stormed down the field and dumped it off to Merlin M'Cloud. In true PEI fashion, M'Cloud played hot potato with the rugby ball before stretching over the line for the try. Bennett stepped up to make the score 24-19 after the convert. 
 
The trio of Phoenix Moller, Sully Curran and Brighton Feldman showed well in the scrum, often pushing the issue on the Wildcat front-row. Even so, CWU was up to the challenge, providing good platform come set-piece time. This was evident in the 53rd minute as the Wildcats' scrum-half found his number 11 streaking along the blindside. The Vikes weren't privy to the maneuver, and CWU gained valuable meters. The Wildcats proceeded to crash it up with their forwards, ending in a score, bringing the game even, 24-24.
 
After some kick tennis between the two sides, the Vikes found themselves in the opposition's half. In the 60th minute, Di-Nardo, up to his old tricks, burned his defender with an arsenal of steps. The score read 29-24 for the Vikes, albeit UVic was forced to play with fourteen men, following a Bennett red card. 
 
The Vikes failed to score again as CWU came alive in the final twenty minutes. Two tries for the Wildcats towards the end of the match saw the NCAA side finish victorious, 38-29.
 
The coveted "Guzzy" award, which is awarded to the man of the match, found its way to Mason Levin. The first year centre made his debut with the Vikes, captaining the contact area while showing great distribution. Moreover, the "Shield" was given to Annan McAllister. This is awarded to the Vike who proves to be the top defender, on the day. McAllister made an immense impact, dominating the breakdown.
 
This cross-border matchup saw a flurry of massive collisions and individual skills. Central Washington were great competitors. The exhibition allowed the Vikes valuable time with different combinations. This is beneficial in building toward their big BC Premier League matchup against Capilano RFC on Feb. 1 in Vancouver, B.C.