In disappointing fashion, the Oregon Club Sports men’s rugby team lost 32-30 in the first round of the Nationals to California State, Chico in overtime Saturday.
Oregon senior fullback Bill Terrill said that despite his disappointment, he was happy with his team’s performance.
And Oregon coach Bob Snyder said he was proud of how they played.
“All we were told before the game was that we have to make good tackles and not make simple mistakes,” Terrill said. “The coaches knew that we were experienced enough to know what to do on the field.”
Terrill said the team played as they planned, but Chico State’s experience prevailed in the end.
“Chico State had some advantage playing against tough opponents during the regular season, and I think that gave them a little bit of edge,” Terrill said. “We need to play against tougher opponents to win the postseason games.”
Oregon will lose some quality players to graduation but is expected to have an equally strong team next season.
“We are planning to play against tougher opponents during the off-season, such as Cal and Arizona,” Terrill said. “Also, we are going to have recruits that have tremendous athletic abilities. I expect them to win the league again.”

Women’s water polo could be headed to nationals
Last weekend Washington hosted the women’s water polo regional championship tournament for the Pacific Northwest division.
Oregon (11-11 overall) and four other teams participated in the event, including Oregon State, Washington, Simon Fraser and Western Washington. The Washington women’s team, ranked 20th nationally, came out on top, followed by the Ducks.
“This was their best performance that I have ever seen,” second-year coach Lea Bonebrake said. “They played better than my own expectations.”
Even though the Ducks did not place first, there is still a chance for them to qualify for the national tournament in Arizona, which will be held in May. Their second-place finish might enable them to fill a wild card spot, which the team will find out later this week.
On Saturday, the Ducks defeated state rival Oregon State, 8-4.
“It was a great win for us because we redeemed ourselves from an earlier loss to them in March,” said Sarah Pullen, a sophomore.
Later that day, they obtained their lone loss in the tournament against the Huskies 12-5. Oregon was unable to catch up to Washington’s four-goal run during the first quarter.
Sunday the Ducks managed two wins in their games against Western Washington (12-0) and Simon Fraser (9-5).
“The win versus Simon Fraser was our best in the tournament because our games are always really close,” junior Jen Laudin said. “It was a physical game, but we communicated and worked well together.”
The tournament wrapped up the women’s season, which began in winter.
“For the first time, we were actually a team,” junior Carrie Richards said. “I’ve never seen us play this strong.”
Nicole Federspiel, Amanda Dempsey and Richards all contributed to the team’s powerful performance.
The Ducks’ solid effort in the recent tournament was due to their rigorous training schedule. They have been preparing themselves since fall term, practicing an average of nine hours per week.
The team will continue to practice twice a week this term for an upcoming tournament in May to be held at the Amazon Pool in Eugene — unless they receive the wild card spot in nationals. Then they would be off to Arizona instead.
Even though the Ducks are not nationally ranked, they were acknowledged in Scoreboard, a water polo magazine which ranks Oregon among “the best of the rest.”
“Right now, they are playing at the top of their game because they are prepared and focused,” Lea said proudly. “I have high hopes that we will qualify for the wild card spot in Arizona.”

Baseball sweeps

Southern Oregon
Finally, after seeing four games get washed away by the rain, the Oregon Club Sports baseball team got to play under bright sun and a slight breeze.
After winning the first game 9-4, the Ducks finished their double-header sweep of Southern Oregon on Saturday by winning the second game 4-1.
The Ducks had two solid performances from their left-handed starters, Regan Shaller and Kurt Langworthy. Both pitchers threw complete games.
Oregon coach Rich Fay said he couldn’t say enough about the pitchers’ performances. Shaller started the first game instead of injured Zach Ross and struck out 12 of the Raiders’ batters. Shaller came out strong, striking out six of the first seven batters.
“I did not think about striking out the batters,” Shaller said. “I just concentrated on getting the batters out. I did not change anything.”
Ty Cademartori hit a solo home run in the first inning, but the Raiders responded by scoring two runs in the third.
Oregon shortstop Anthony Reshwill, who played brilliant defense in both games, performed one of his many diving catches against Southern Oregon’s lead-off man in the fourth inning, helping Shaller get back into the rhythm.
“I just felt comfortable on the field,” Reshwill said. “I was able to get a head start on the balls because I anticipated well.”
The Ducks had three home runs in the two games, but Fay said they were not trying to hit it out of the park. Fay said the home runs helped the team win the game but good base running, defense and pitching were more important factors.
Langworthy said he was successful because he came into the game rested.
“I had a bad outing in the exhibition game [last month] because I was tired coming into the game,” Langworthy said. “I tried not to throw too much before the game and it worked.”
The Ducks play against Southern Oregon again this weekend.