No. 1 BYU rugby defeats No. 4 St. Mary's

MORAGA, California -- Senior center Seki Kofe's try in the 55th minute followed by junior fly half Jonathan Linehan's conversion against a scrappy No. 4 St. Mary's defense put No.1 BYU's point total at 32 for the day despite a rough first half.

The visiting BYU Cougars (6-0) won 32-28, defeating the Gaels and improving their win streak to 18 since the Gaels handed the Cougars their lone defeat last year at St. Mary's on Feb. 15, 2014. The 18-game win streak includes the 43-33 Varsity Cup National Championship victory over the California Golden Bears.

"We picked up the pace in the second half which made all the difference. Our forwards ran hard increasing our confidence as a team," said BYU head coach David Smyth.

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BYU struggled in the first 40 minutes despite an early penalty kick by Linehan in the 4th minute and a quick try by senior fullback Ryan Blaser in the 10th minute which gave the Cougars a 10-0 lead. The Gaels responded with great passing and kicking as they scored 18 unanswered points going into half-time with an 18-10 lead.

Subbing in for Blaser in the second-half, junior fullback Joshua Whippy scored a try in the 41st minute closing the gap to 15-18. Six minutes later, Linehan sent a penalty kick through the uprights tying the game at 18-18.

"I knew it was a critical moment of the game since St. Mary's came out hard in the first half," said Linehan of his second penalty kick. "I knew I could count on my teammates to keep the momentum going."

The momentum increased for the Cougars as freshman winger Calvin Whiting scored a try in the 48th minute as a good conversion by Linehan increased the lead to 25-18. The Gaels responded four minutes later with a penalty kick changing the score to 25-21.

In the 55th minute, Kofe's try followed by Linehan's conversion widened the scoring gap, giving the undefeated Cougars a 32-21 lead. The Gaels kept fighting, scoring a try in the 80th minute and completing a conversion making the final score 32-28.

St. Mary's will travel to BYU's South Field on March 14 at 7 p.m. MST. Live streaming will be available at BYU's YouTube Channel.

Scoring summary:

4' Linehan 3

10' Blaser 5, Linehan 2

19' SMC 5

29' SMC 3

31' SMC 3

39' SMC 5, 2

Half-time BYU 10 SMC 18

41' Whippy 5

47' Linehan 3

48' Whiting 5, Linehan 2

52' SMC 3

55' Kofe 5, Linehan 2

80' SMC 5, 2

FINAL- BYU 32 SMC 28