2021 CWU Recap

LESSONS LEARNED IN FIRST LOSS

cENTRAL wASHINGTON 47

aRIZONA 10

Kyle Fulton was a bright spot in his return to the lineup but it was not enough in the tough loss in Ellensburg. (Photo credits: Alex Ho)

March 29- Arizona traveled to Ellensburg this past weekend for the first road test of 2021, a ranked-matchup with Central Washington.

Early, it was the hosts who set the tone, scoring early before a Robert Figley penalty made it 7-3. Wildcat mistakes were feasted on by the host Wildcats, however, as an early 14-3 lead was extended to 21-3 to take the teams in to halftime.

At half, adjustments and cooler heads led to a burst in momentum, as standout Freshman EJ Freeman put Number Eight Riley Kerr through off of a stolen lineout to cut it to 21-10. Renewed emphasis on defense and some patient attack helped the visitors get back in the game, working down into the Central Washington 22 off of another Kerr linebreak, this time set up by Prop Zach Barker. A knock on, an exit by Central Washington, and a stolen lineout swung momentum back in the hosts' favor, and their capitalization made it 28-10 and put the game out of reach. Two more Central Washington tries cemented the Wildcats' first loss, dropping them to 1-1 on the young season.

For Director of Rugby Sean Duffy, the loss was a teachable moment, albeit a disappointing one. "Credit to CWU, they are well-coached and have some good talent. We are early on but we felt we could put on a better showing. Lessons learned for this group, and we hope to see CWU again in playoffs."

Arizona returns home for the return fixture with Grand Canyon before a bye week and the stretch run leading in to the postseason featuring soon to be announced additional matches as more teams become available.

SCORING vs CENTRAL WASHINGTON

Tries: 1- Kerr

Conversions- Figley- 1/1

ARIZONA vs CENTRAL WASHINGTON

1- Zach Barker

3- Harry Bluck

7- EJ Freeman