Any time Oregon beats Stanford, it’s worth celebrating. At least that’s the Ducks’ mentality.
On Saturday, Oregon’s Club rugby team defeated the Cardinal. After outscoring Stanford 17-3 in the final 40 minutes, Oregon celebrated a comeback win against one of its toughest opponents.
“We were pretty close in skill level, but their team had a size advantage,” Club rugby coordinator Pete Bayly said. “But we played together as a solid unit to finish off the game.”
Playing under fair conditions at Stanford’s recently completed million-dollar rugby stadium, the game was uneventful for the first 10 minutes until Stanford scored with a penalty kick.
Two minutes later, Oregon, coached by Justin Roome, countered Stanford’s three points with a try and took a 5-3 lead.
Stanford scored two more tries before halftime, and the Ducks found themselves behind at the end of the first 40-minute half by a score of 15-7.
Bayly said that although his team was behind at halftime, it was the second half that made the difference.
“We started off the second half a little slow,” Bayly said. “After the first ten minutes, we picked it up and played solid defense and sound offense.”
Oregon slowly erased Stanford’s lead and allowed the Cardinal to score three points in the second half. With 16 minutes left in the half, Oregon scored the go-ahead point and held the score at 24-18 until the match ended. Forward Noah Evans played a key role in Oregon’s 17 second-half points and Mike Estis controlled Oregon’s backline all game.
Bayly hopes Oregon’s win over Stanford will not only help the team gain momentum coming into league play, but that it will put the Ducks on the map.
“With this win, we hope to catapult ourselves into a position where a berth in the Sweet 16 Tournament is possible,” Bayly said.
The Ducks will participate in their last “friendly” match against Idaho State at Oregon’s Southbank Field on Jan. 31. Oregon competes in its first league game Feb. 14 at home against Central Washington. Five other teams — Central Washington, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State and Western Washington — will compete against Oregon in the Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union.
Oregon practices twice a week at 3:30 p.m. on the turf field by the Student Recreation Center and still welcomes interested students to join the team.
“We are always recruiting,” Bayly said. “Anyone who wants to come out has the opportunity to do so.”

Club hockey loses I-5 Cup
In front of a crowd full of students representing Oregon sororities and fraternities that turned out for Greek Weekend, Oregon’s Club hockey team dropped two more games, putting their record at 0-16-0.
The Ducks blew two consecutive two-goal leads in the third period against Washington to lose the I-5 Cup at Lane County Ice Arena. Both games ended with the Huskies winning by a score of 3-2.
Oregon plays at home this weekend at 7:30 on both Friday and Saturday nights against Eastern Washington at Lane County Ice Arena. The Ducks will then hit the road for the last time this season on Jan. 29 to play California and Stanford. They will return home for their final league games on Feb. 6 and 7 against Central Washington.