Stanford vs. Sacramento State

Owing to a rained out match against earlier in the season, Stanford hosted Sacramento State on Friday, March 13th. The game was the first night game to ever be hosted at Steuber Family Rugby Stadium and was a must-win in order for the Cardinal to preserve their playoff hopes. Having lost a closely contested match against Sac State earlier in the year in Sacramento, this game was especially important to the Club. This urgency was apparent throughout the day in the Cardinal's defense, which managed to stifle the physicality of the Sac State side. Though there were several goal line stands for both teams, the game stood scoreless until the 37th minute, when Stanford lock Alex Rabkin punched in the ball to put the Cardinal up 5-0. The teams ground it out for another twenty minutes before wing Julian Brooks scored a sixty meter try off of an intercepted pass. This was followed less than ten minutes later by number eight Johnny McCormick's try, scoring between the posts after weaving through the heart of Sac State's forward pack and breaking several tackles. However, despite the 17 point lead, Sac State mounted an impressive rally in the game's final twenty minutes, scoring in the 70th and 75th minute to bring the game within a single try. The game ended with a brutal five minute stand deep in Cardinal territory, highlighted by two instances where the Sac State scorer was held up by the Cardinal defense. At the end of the day, Sac State was not able to equalize, leaving the score at Stanford 17, Sac State 10.