Jan 29- Arizona returned to action this weekend in front of a healthy crowd on Saturday, welcoming Utah Valley to Sitton Field as they looked for their second win of the season.

 

Early mistakes marked the first few minutes for the Wildcats in this effort as some handling errors led to an early Utah Valley try to open the scoring. The lead was short-lived for the visitors, however, as some well worked attack led to a Ryan Fitzpatrick try in the left corner that was converted by Kyle Rogers to give the Cats their first lead. A special moment took place later in the half when a kick was chased down by Number Eight Zach Heisterkamp and dotted down for his first career try in his first start as a Wildcat to make it 12-5 Arizona. A Ben Joseph try capped off the first half, as he barreled through three defenders to make it 19-5 at the break. Head Coach Sean Duffy was pleased to be ahead at half, but disappointed at the mistakes. "We felt we left points on the board in the first 40, and it was due to simple mistakes that we set out to fix in the second period as I felt we were in our own heads a bit" said the coach.

 

In the second half, it was Fitzpatrick and Joseph striking again, with the duo each notching another try that was sandwiched around the effort of the day by Lock Sean Coleman, who interecepted a Utah Valley pass to gallop in for the long distance score, his first of the year. Dante Weeks got on the board to close the day out for the Wildcats with Matt Rogers going 3 for 4 in the second half on conversions for the final scoring margin. Coach Duffy praised the visiting Wolverines along with the effort of some players new to the lineup, as the Wildcats looked to rest a few players heading in to next week's key PAC conference matchup. "Utah Valley is a talented and tough team, they're going to make some noise this Spring and I look forward to seeing them in the future. I thought our guys rallied in the second half and the contributions of guys like Kyle Rogers, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Ben Joseph were crucial to that" said Duffy.

 

Not to be forgotten on the day was the continued impressive work by the Arizona Second XV, who moved to 2-0 on the year with their second straight victory over a first side in the PAC Conference, defeating USC 44-29. Arizona was led by some great contributions, including the standout play by Lock Zach Knobbe-Hewitt, Hooker Zach Biggs, and Center Lucas Bartzis. 

 

The Wildcats (2-1) now move on to next week's matchup with UCLA, as the 11th-ranked Bruins come to Tucson next Saturday for a 2:00 PM kickoff at Sitton Field.

 

 

SCORING

Tries: B. Joseph (2), Fitzpatrick (2), Heisterkamp, Coleman, Weeks

Conversions: M. Rogers- 3/4, K. Rogers- 2/3