Nov 21- In their final preseason match of the Fall a young Wildcats side faced their toughest test yet in a road contest against San Diego State. If the effort by the Freshmen and Sophomores is any indication, the future is bright for the program as they enter their 54th season.

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In the first half, the Arizona defense held the Aztecs in check, with pressure forcing turnovers and creating attacking opportunities for the Wildcats. Dietrich Abinet was one beneficiary of these, touching down in the 13th minute to give the visitors an early lead. Much of the rest of the first half was defensively-dominated, with both teams squandering attacking opportunities and requiring second half adjustments.

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"I was really happy with our defense in spurts, but in attack we played too much in our half, and didn't get the set piece dominance we were striving for. Those were two big goals in the second half" said Director of Rugby Sean Duffy. Stand-in Captain Cameron Blair's 46th minute try made it 12-7, but a San Diego State score off of a kick and chase tied it up going into the final 20 minutes. In the deciding stretch of the game, it was the Arizona scrum and their play off turnover ball that would seal the game. In the 60th minute, Center Charley Redknapp bulldozed over for his first try of the preseason, with Seth Catchpole converting to make it 19-12. San Diego State would threaten the lead, but a turnover ball opportunity and a Breyton DePoint linebreak was what would seal the 24-12 win, finishing the preseason at 4-0 and 11-3-1 overall going in to winter break. 

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"We are thankful to SDSU for hosting, our alumni, families, and fans for their support, and our young guys for taking the next step in their development. You can train all you want, but nothing teaches you lessons like games and we need to play more Rugby in order to take that step" said Duffy.
 

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Scoring vs SDSU
W 24-12

Tries: Abinet, Blair, Redknapp, DePoint

Conversions: Catchpole- 2/4

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SDSU Roster

1- Caeden Chase

2- Cameron Blair (C)

3- Isaac Morrill

4- Aidan Hendry

5- Dietrich Abinet

6- Pacific Smiley

7- Troy Norman

8- Breyton DePoint

9- Michael O'Day

10- Seth Catchpole

11- Alex Pirkl

12- Charley Redknapp

13- Thomas Figley

14- Ben Herbes

15- Gustave Martinez

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16- Mustafa Khaled

17- Alex Mada

18- Jack Kerrigan

19- Alex Walter

20- Andreas Andersson

21- Kole Kedzierski

22- Charles Williams

23- Patrick Johnson

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