BYU Rugby downs Central Washington, advances to championship game

BYU men's rugby took the field today against the Central Washington University Wildcats for their chances at the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup. BYU is coming off a couple great wins and came into the game very confident.

CWU came out very strong against the Cougars and played a very physical first 10 minutes. They were able to take their offense down the length of the field a couple times but never could convert. CWU tried to take the lead with a drop goal attempt but came up short.

BYU took advantage of this and were able to score the first try of the game, going up 5-0 thanks to the efforts from Jonny Linehan. CWU came back quickly to tie things up 5-5. Josh Whippy was able to get in the action and able to boost BYU up 12-5 at the 19 minute mark. At the 37 minute mark Linehan was able to help increase the Cougars lead to 15-5 before the close of the half.

To open the second half, CWU was able to open things up and get a kick in to narrow the lead to 15-8. However, the lead would only go up for BYU as Joe Pikula was able to score at the 46 minute mark and the Cougars kicked a deep drop goal to go up 25-8.

BYU was able to keep up the tempo in the second half, holding CWU from scoring again in the second, and increasing their lead after a couple tries from their backs. The Cougars would end up closing the game up with a 35-8 victory. Central Washington played a very tough and physical game against the Cougars despite the final margin.

BYU will travel to Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah (home of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer) to take on the Cal Bears for a rematch of last years championship game. The Cougars can claim their 4th straight championship game and 5th in 6 years, winning the national title in 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Thanks to all the fans that have come out to support this year at South Field. Come cheer on your Cougars one more time at Rio Tinto as they go on to defend their national title and look to bring home another one to Provo.

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Some background info: The Penn Mutual Varsity Cup represents the fourteen most recognized programs in the country including BYU, Utah, Air Force, University of California, Dartmouth, Naval Academy, Notre Dame, LA, Central Washington University, Oklahoma, ASU, Texas, Clemson and Arkansas State. In the past 33 years, 31 of the championships have come from one of these programs.