MORGAN HILL — The club rugby team from Live Oak fell 38-22 to Pleasanton’s 19U Cavaliers on Friday in a nonleague exhibition at the Outdoor Sports Center.
The Acorns came out sluggish, squandering good field position with unforced errors and penalties. Behind quick, effective counterattacks, Pleasanton forged a 19-0 halftime lead on three tries and two conversions.
Live Oak woke up in the second half. Led by Thomas Mangano and the rest of the team’s forward pack, the Acorns physically dominated the Cavaliers in scrums and lineouts with hard-driving runs through the center of Pleasanton’s defense.
Senior prop Erik Poulsen opened up the scoring for Live Oak with an unconverted try five minutes into the second half. Senior center Mark Weber added a second try between the posts three minutes later, and junior fullback Andrew Pitzer made the conversion, pulling the Acorns within seven, 19-12.
The final 20 minutes saw both sides go full tilt with solid tackles, bruising runs and action at both ends of the field.
The Cavaliers extended their lead, 26-12, but Pitzer scored a try and converted to make the deficit seven again. Pleasanton broke the game open with two more tries in five minutes; one on a charged down kick and another on a poorly defended counterattack.
Pitzer recovered his own kick deep in Cavaliers territory for a try to round out Live Oak’s scoring.
In the junior varsity match, the Acorns lost 19-10 to a team comprised of Pleasanton and Salinas players. Sophomores Erik Nielsen and Jose Cazarez scored tries for Live Oak.
The Acorns return to Skyhawk Conference play at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 against Salinas in the Outdoor Sports Center.
