by ROB JENKINS
Sports Reporter

The referee blew the whistle three times to signal the end of the match, and the Appalachian State University AHO club rugby team poured onto the pitch to celebrate its 19-10 win over East Carolina University.

“[I am] psyched. They were the best team in the state. They were ranked sixth in the nation,” sophomore marketing major Ben S. Llewellyn said. “They made it all the way last year to the quarterfinals. They ain’t making it this year.”

ECU got on the board early in the match following a mistake by AHO.

Members of the Appalachian State University AHO club rugby team battle with members of East Carolina University Saturday. AHO will face the Demon Deacons at 1 p.m. Saturday in Kidd Brewer Stadium for a chance at regionals. Photo by Rachel Noel.

AHO lost control of the ball deep in Pirate territory and an ECU player scooped it up and ran 80 meters to score a try.

The Pirates scored the conversion after the try to go up 7-0.

The ECU place kicker gave the Pirates a 10-point lead after hitting his second kick of the day.

After several minutes of a stalemate, AHO began to take over the game.

Appalachian put together a sustained drive and brought the score to 10-7 following a Llewellyn try and conversion.

“I’ve got to hand it to every single one of our forwards,” Llewellyn said. “They did everything well and brought every single one of their players in. I just saw the hole, took advantage of a mistake by [ECU’s] wing, and turned it into points for us.”

Just before halftime, AHO took their first lead of the game 12-10 after senior geography major Alex K. Craig forced his way into the try-zone.

The turning point in the match came with about 25 minutes left in the second half, when AHO committed two penalties in a three-minute span, giving ECU two penalty kicks.

The Pirates’ place kicker missed both kicks, the second of which was straight on from 20 meters out.

Senior hospitality and tourism management major Matt R. Espy, team president, underscored the importance of the missed kicks.

“[ECU’s] place kicker normally wins their games. He missed three kicks which would have tied it up,” Espy said.

Following the missed penalty kicks, AHO quickly moved the ball down the field before a penalty was called on East Carolina.

The Mountaineers chose to restart the game with a quick tap.

“Our scrum-half quick tapped it and sucked in the defense. He popped it out to me at the 10-yard line and I drove it right in to seal the win,” Espy said.

The conversion after the try bounced off the post and fell through to give AHO the 19-10 lead.

Appalachian controlled the final 18 minutes of the game to claim the victory.

“We worked our [butts] off this week. We did a lot of sprints and hand work and it showed off today,” senior marketing major M. Wilder Clark said.

If Appalachian beats Wake Forest University Saturday, they will win their matrix and continue on to regionals.

“We get to go against some private school boys. They’re not going to be willing to take a hit from some of our kids,” Llewellyn said. “I hope they are ready.”

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