Stanford Men's Rugby vs University of Nevada Reno
 
Stanford 65 – UNR 30
 
Steuber Rugby Stadium
Stanford, CA
 
Stanford Men's Rugby welcomed UNR to the Farm on Senior Day in front of family and friends on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
 
The Cardinal would score first after a Cardinal maul would set the platform for a wide attack as Senior scrumhalf Oliver Sibal '24 sent the ball to flyhalf Riley Elliot '27 for a pass out the back to Jeff Edsall who put senior winger Anders Luffman '25 into space. Luffman's race to the corner would start the scoring for the Cardinal.
 
The next try would be one for the highlight reel. In the 11^th minute off a left-hand scrum, Lucas Cavalieri kicked the ball down field for winger Tom Adamo. The kick would find the 5m channel and the bounce of the ball would find the hands of Adamo racing down the sideline and home free for the 60 meter try. Elliot would convert to bring the score to 12-0.
 
In the 17^th minute, the Cardinal forwards hammered towards the tryline with Senior second row, Theo Von Preyss '27 dotting it down with Senior and Club President Faris Bdair '25 assisting him through from the back. The conversion was good; 19-0 to Stanford.
 
UNR would strike back in the 24^th minute capitalizing on Cardinal penalties bringing the score to 19-5. The next several minutes would demonstrate the set piece work of the Cardinal forwards as scrums and lineouts were plentiful.
 
In the 30^th minute, Elliot was quick to react to a UNR dropped ball, scooping it up and slicing through the defense for the try.
 
The subsequent kickoff was well returned by Bdair and the Cardinal would play in the UNR half. UNR would regain possession temporarily but kick the ball back to Senior Jeff Edsall '24 at fullback. The Cardinal would make good on the possession as Captain Diego Burgos '25 would receive quick ball from Sibal and with a display of footwork and power make a 20 meter run for the try. Elliot would convert for the extra 2 points.
 
UNR would muster a comeback with two tries towards the end of the half, but Edsall would have final say as the Bay Area native would find the tryline after Adamo charged down a UNR clearance kick. The half ended in favor of the home team with a score of 36-15.
 
A couple minutes into the first half, UNR would go edge to edge before bringing it back midfield to their hooker for the center try. A couple minutes later they would score again after a ball was stolen from the Stanford maul. UNR would attack the far edge and work the offloads into the tryzone. They would close the score to 36-25.
 
The Cardinal wasted no time answering back. Off the next kickoff, heaps of defensive pressure forced a handling error and Senior Colin Grant '27 snatched the ball up and sprinted in for the try. The converted try brought the score to 43-25. Only having played for a couple months now, Grant has picked up game incredibly and is a leading tackler on the pitch.
 
The next three tries took place in the span of a dozen minutes and would all be finished by Adamo on the edge courtesy of assists from Cavalieri and reserve scrumhalf Taki Rifai '27. That brought the score to 60-25, and Adamo's try total for the match to 4.
 
In the final minutes of play the Cardinal would put up a final try. UNR's lineout 5m from their defending tryzone was overthrown. Senior prop Alvon Ayuyo '27 was ready for the tipped ball and squared towards the tryzone. Ayuyo pooped the ball to reserve second row Nihar Janga '27 for his first try in a Cardinal league match. The final score was 65-25 to the Cardinal.
 
The Cardinal would finish the conference season 3-3, up from a 0-5 season last year. They will move on to Rugby 7s season  and play the seve-a-side variation for the spring quarter culminating at 7s Nationals in Bellingham, WA in May.
 
Tries: Anders Luffman, Tom Adamo (4), Theo Von Preyss, Diego Burgos, Riley Elliot, Jeff Edsall, Colin Grant, Nihar Janga
Conversions: Riley Elliot(5)
 
Special recognition to our Seniors:
Alvin Ayuyo
Faris Bdair
Jeff Edsall
Colin Grant
Duncan Ross
Oliver Sibal
Kasen Stephensen
Theo Von Preyss