By Veronika Quispe/Staff Writer
The FIU men’s rugby team advanced to their final game of the season after defeating the University of South Florida 38-14 on Saturday, March 22 in Tampa.
“The game belonged to the forwards,” Captain Agustin Laphitzondo said.
FIU (4-2) started off strong in the first half. The first two tries were scored by Luis Felipe Echeverry and Ramiro Alvo. Mateo Velazquez had a 80 yard run into the try line to pass it to Jorge Evora to score the last try of the half; each try is worth five points.
The second half FIU came out a bit too comfortable as they had a strong lead in the first. This gave USF a chance to score once again. Nevertheless, freshman forward Santiago Laphitzondo came back on full swing to score the fourth try. Captain Kyle Gilbert scored the fifth. The Bulls fought back offensively with a 50 yard run but came short as Adrian White made a tackle right before the try try line to stop them at only two tries for the game. The final try for FIU was by A. Laphitzondo late in the second half.
“We dominated every scrum we had, we delivered our mauls and our forwards were playing great driving the ball in,” Gilbert said.
FIU finished with four kick conversions all made by Velazquez, which added eight extra points to the score.
The conference is lead by the returning state champions, University of Central Florida (6-0), with 20 points. This game placed the Panthers in second place with 15 points, after receiving four points for the win and one for winning with more than four tries.
“This game was amazing for us even if we came slightly flat, we usually come out with a little bit more intensity to score more tries. But it was a great game for both the forwards and the backs,” Gilbert said.
Florida State follows with 12 points and UCF falls short with four points to end their season.
The man of the match was awarded to Santiago at the post-game social hosted by USF at PJ Dolan’s Irish Pub. Man of the match for the backs was awarded to Velazquez who had strong passes.
“He stepped up when needed,” Gilbert said.
FIU is looking ahead to qualify for the Southern Independent Rugby Conference (SIRC) championship, as the best two teams of the south go against the best two teams of the north. The Panthers are doing everything in their power to defeat the national champions, UCF. They need to either win, to receive four points, or tie, to receive two points. If they score more than four tries, they are given a point. In case they lose by less than seven, they also score a point. Defeating UCF will be difficult, considering the last game the Panthers had against the Knights ended in 59-19, as FIU scored three tries and two conversions. The Knights scored nine tries and seven conversions.
“This is going to be one of the hardest games but, we have a chance to make it to the SIRC championship,” Gilbert said. “It depends on how many points we score, but we don’t need to rely on anyone. We control our own destiny now.”
After a three week bye, the team dedicated a lot of time to training and practicing their plays.
“It was a team game; we knew we were going in to fight for a championship. We were able to exceed our expectations,” said Gilbert.
The team feels confident that the battle won’t be in vain, and that the finish line is only a game away.
“Right now it’s just about what we’ve actually done and putting it on the field. Not even talking about it now actually doing, we’re only one game away from completing what we want,” Gilbert said.
The Panthers will face the Golden Knights in Orlando at 2 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, March 29.
-veronika.quispe@fiusm.com
This was a really great article, the club sports need to receive more attention and funding from the school. Escpecally when that team is making it so far in their leauge.