Defensively dominating the second half, the Sac State Men?s Rugby Team blew away visiting Chico State 41-20 in a critical match with playoff implications last Saturday.

The Hornets improved their season record to 6?2 with the victory, but more importantly, moved within one game of cinching their first Division I Playoff berth. They are currently 2-2 in league play and can only advance beyond the regular season if they defeat St. Mary?s on March 17.

Wing Casey Finch emerged as the star of the Chico match, leading the Hornets?offensive attack with a hat trick of scores.

“We got the ball out to Casey and he used his quickness to get around the defense?s corners,” Sac State wing Mike Plescia said. “Outside execution was the key to the win today.”

In the first half of play, Sac State made a plethora of strong drives and got on the scoreboard early, but committed several penalties in the final twenty minutes. “The team was complacent and seemed to let down before the half,” Hornet head coach Justin Prichard said.

Sac State remained ahead 17-15 coming out at halftime, then their defense stepped up its intensity and took over. Working together, they held Chico scoreless for the duration of the game behind standout defensive flankers Ryan Nelson and Tyler Pierce. They completely controlled the ball, keeping it for thirty of the forty minutes in the second half according to Prichard.

“We eliminated mistakes and put the game away when it needed to be done,” Plescia said. Due to bad weather conditions and a concern for not tearing up the intramural fields on campus, the game was changed to a different location and time than originally scheduled. The contest was played at 12:00pm, instead of 1:00pm, on the Florin Reservoir Field at the corner of 53rd and Power Inn Rd.

Attempting to win two in a row and gain momentum going into the highly St. Mary?s showdown, Sac State travels to Stockton to take on Division II University of the Pacific in a non-league March 10.