BYU, UVSC fall short in title matches

BYU and Utah Valley State weren't able to bring home college rugby titles as both schools lost their respective championship matches on Saturday in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Cal juggernaut continued as the Golden Bears put on a 59-7 hiding of BYU to capture their fifth straight Division I crown and 24th overall. For the Cougars, it was the bitter end of another season in which Cal has beaten them for three years running in the finals.

BYU's long evening started early as Cal took a 14-point lead after 20 minutes. By the 30-minute mark, it was over as the Golden Bears put in two more tries, including Ryan Taylor's second.

But Cal wasn't about to take the foot off the gas, especially against a Cougars side that has been the solid No. 2 team in the nation for the past three years. Another two tries put over in the last 10 minutes of the first half gave Cal a 40-0 lead at the break.

Fortunately for BYU, Cal slowed down a bit in the second half in scoring just three times.

And captain Steve St. Pierre at least put the Cougars on the board with a try in the last 20 minutes.

UVSC suffered an early blitz too in its 25-14 loss to Radford earlier in the day in the Division II finals.

The Highlanders ended up scoring all of their points in the first half — with two tries in the first 20 minutes — before UVSC clamped down. As the Wolverines tightened up, they still couldn't turn chances into points as fatigue set in and recycling at the rucks wasn't quick enough.

The last 20 minutes was when UVSC came to life. Lea Kaufusi and Trevor Mittani scored to culminate a tiring afternoon.

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