Clemson Pushes Tennessee: Comes Up Short

Mar 11, 2008 The Tigers took their home field for the last time this season against South power Tennessee last Saturday. The Tigers were led for the last time on their home turf by captain Mike Fitzgerald and seniors Ted Chapman, Jon Jon Nguyen, and Tyler Loftus. Fitzgerald and the seniors led the Tigers to their best performance of the season and pushed the much more experienced Volunteers right until the final whistle.

On a day that was full of penalties and yellow cards, Tennessee struck first from a penalty kick. They quickly added a converted try to bring the score to 10-0 just eight minutes into the game. The resurgent Tigers didn't quit though, as senior flyhalf Ted Chapman dummied his way into the try zone. Sophomore Matt Starkey converted the try to bring the score back within three. Tennessee put in two uncontested tries to bring the score to 20-7 in favor of the Volunteers at half.

Tennessee again added to their lead just ten minutes into the second half with a converted try, and it looked like they would pull away. Clemson wouldn't go away as Starkey took advantage of Tennessee penalties to slot two penalty kicks in quick succession to cut the lead to 27-13. Tennessee again countered with an unconverted try before junior flanker Ben Walence scored to bring the score to 32-18. Starkey converted another penalty goal to further cut the lead to 32-21. Poor communication and a bad bounce led to an easy Volunteer score to seemingly secure the victory. Again the Tigers answered as Fitzgerald took the Tennessee scrumhalf for a five meter ride on his back into the try zone. Starkey converted to cut the lead to nine with just three minutes to play. The Tigers took the final kickoff and were challenging at midfield before an errant pass resulted in a knock-on. South scrumhalf Seth Jones made the Tigers pay with a long run and a try under the posts. The conversion was good at the final whistle to bring the score to 44-28 in favor of the Volunteers.
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The Tigers will end their matrix competition on Saturday March 29th against the Gamecocks of USC. The game will be played at 3:30pm with a second side match to follow. The Tigers urge all of their fans to make the trip to Columbia to cheer them on. Directions to the field can be found at:

http://www.uscrugby.com/schedule/field/stwfc.htm

Roster:

1. Black
2. Williams
3. Bryant
4. Wells
5. Fitzgerald
6. Walence
7. Duffield
8. Mattler
9. Nguyen
10. Chapman
11. Starkey
12. Thompson
13. Loftus
14. Oneal
15. Friend/Dimmagio

Tries: Walence, Chapman, Fitzgerald
Penalty Kicks: Starkey (3)
Conversion Kicks: Starkey (2)