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September 16, 2005 > Sports > Sports Notebook

Sports Notebook

By Matt McCabe | Thresher Editorial Staff

Hoffman leads golf to eighth-place finish

The golf team beat more than half the field in its first fall tournament, the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, held in Colorado Springs, Colo. last weekend. Rice finished the tournament eighth out of 17 teams at 27-over, with a team score of 891.

Freshman Kaz Hoffman led the Owls, finishing his first collegiate tournament in eighth place at one-under 215. Hoffman shot the second-lowest round of the tournament with his first-round 68, which put him in a tie for second. Hoffman and Kyle Kelley are newcomers on a squad that lost Matt Toohey (Will Rice ‘05), Frank Buttacavoli (Martel ‘05) and Eddie Rowe (Martel ‘05) to graduation.

The Owls’ last round was their most impressive, as they passed five teams in moving to eighth place. Rice’s 290 was the third best team score for the final round, beaten only by the second-place Weber State and third-place Long Beach State.

Only 10 individuals out of the 91-man-field shot under par in the final round, including sophomore Addison Awe who shot three-under 69 to finish the tournament in a tie for 35th at eight-over 224.

Senior Parker LaBarge, the lone upperclassman on the team, battled back after a first-round 80, carding a 72 and a 74, respectively to finish the tournament in a tie for 43rd with Kelley. Sophomore Jeff Krakowiak finished 85th.

Rice’s next tournament will be Vanderbilt’s Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Franklin, Tenn.

— Matt McCabe

Rugby starts fall with exhibition victory

Despite pouring rain, the men’s rugby club won its season-opening exhibition match Saturday, soundly defeating the University of St. Thomas 30-3.

Following three weeks of practice, the match was a learning experience both for returning players and for recruits who were playing their first game of rugby. Head coach Paddy Shrimpton experimented with different rosters, using mixed line-ups in the first half, all rookies in the third quarter and all veterans in the fourth.

In the first quarter, Rice kept the ball on St. Thomas’s half of the field, and sophomore Joe Passaro converted a penalty kick for 3 points. In the second quarter, junior Geoff Marcek scored the first try of the season by eluding defenders and kicking. Then, following a series of pummeling runs and rucks by the forwards, freshman Tom Deitch dove over the try-line to make the score 13-0 Rice. Later in the quarter, St. Thomas converted a penalty for its only points of the game.

In the third quarter, a squad composed almost entirely of first-year players held St. Thomas scoreless. Rice’s veterans took control during the fourth quarter, with quick tries by senior Joey Stiegler and sophomore Sean Monks. Freshman Maclovio Fernandez added a third try later in the quarter, which Passaro converted to make the final score 30-3.

Shrimpton said he was pleased with Rice’s performance.

“This game clearly highlighted a number of things that we as a team need to work on in the coming months,” Shrimpton said. “What struck me most, however, was the incredible effort and enthusiasm I saw on the field. This team has a lot of potential, and I think this game showed they have the attitude to match.”

The St. Thomas match was the first of Rice’s full slate of exhibition games to be played in the fall, including a tournament in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cup matches — Rice’s regular-season games, which count toward national rankings — will be played in January and February, with the postseason continuing into April.

— Matt McCabe

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