February 22, 2025

Stanford Men's Rugby vs San Jose State
Steuber Rugby Stadium
Stanford, CA

Stanford 19 -  SJSU 110

Stanford Men's Rugby hosted San Jose State for their third match in the USA Rugby Collegiate California Men's D1AA conference. The Spartans entered the match 2-0 in conference play while the Cardinal were 1-1 after their recent win over Cal Maritime.

The stadium was packed for Family weekend at the Farm. Family, friends, and alumni were out to support the team on a beautiful Bay Area day. The Cardinal roster named nine rookie players in their first season with the Cardinal and was absent a few usual names in the lineup.

San Jose took an early lead, scoring in the 5th minute of the match and at that interval or better throughout the match. The Spartans were physical and fast, and evasive footwork found them eluding the Cardinal defense.

The Cardinal would find the tryzone twice in the first half. The first at the hands of the forwards from a scrum 5 meters from the Spartan line. Ben Felter '25 picked the ball from the scrum, drawing in four defenders to take him to ground. From there the forwards inched towards the tryline with carries from Connor Mehaffey '25, Terry Guo '28, Nicholas Woehrle '25, and ultimately Travi Senf '25 who spun in for the try. Patrick Kennedy slotted in the conversion.  

The second Cardinal try would come in the 34th minute after a well executed Cardinal  lineout following a Spartan penalty. Captain Diego Burgos, debuting at center for the first time, kicked the ball to touch to earn the Cardinal great field position just 10 meters from the Spartan tryline. Burgos orchestrated the lineout with a well executed throw into a driving maul. The ball then found the backs where rookie Jackson Zane '27 from Georgetown, Tx got some good go forward. Quick reaction from scrumhalf Leiden Brueschke following a penalty found the first year quick tapping and catching the Spartans not back the required 10 meters. The infringement resulted in a penalty try and brought the halftime score to 14 - 63.

The Cardinal continued to battle in the second half as the Spartans broke through the line and connected for offloads for seven second-half tries. The Cardinal scored in the last minute of the match after seven consecutive phases on attack. A penalty at the ruck found the Cardinal set up for a penalty tap about 15 meters from the Spartan tryline. Brueschke pooped the ball to Senf who weaved through the defense for his second and the final try of the afternoon.

The Cardinal are now 1-2 in conference play and will face University of San Diego on March 1, 2025.

Follow @stanford_rugby on Instagram to check out clips from the Try of the Week.

Tries: 
Travis Senf (2)
Penalty Try

Conversions: 
Patrick Kennedy

Stanford Men's Roster vs SJSU

1. Obinna Ekeagwu
2. Terry Guo
3. Nolan Pierce
4. Travis Senf
5. Nicholas Woehrle
6. Connor Mehaffey
7. Zane Jackson
8. Ben Felter
9. Leiden Brueschke
10. Taki Rifai
11. Tom Adamo
12. Diego Burgos (c)
13. Anders Luffman
14. Su Reh
15. Patrick Kennedy
16. Nihar Janga
17. Jawad Ibrahim
18. Matt Le Dorze
19. Leo Campos Yu