The Varsity Blues men's rugby team notched their first win of the 2008 season with a 19-0 shutout of Trent University at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus field on Saturday, Sept. 13th.

The Blues applied pressure early, forcing the Excalibur into giving away a penalty in front of the posts three minutes into the game. Toronto’s Alex Koppel stepped up to kick the penalty to make it 3-0 Toronto.
Seven minutes later it was more of the same and Koppel would make good on the penalty kick to increase the Blues lead to 6-0.

Trent would miss their kick at goal for a Toronto transgression.

In the 17th minute, U of T broke the defensive line of the right side of the pitch. Left winger Tom Oh was there in support, kicking ahead before he was tackled by the Trent fullback. With the ball sitting in-goal, Toronto fullback was able to spin ahead from an onside position to touch down for the game's first try. The conversion was wide and now Toronto led 11-0.

With two minutes left in the first half, Trent was again under pressure at their 22. Their clearance kick was charged down by Blues fly-half Kelvin Wong, who followed up to score Toronto's second try. The Blues led 16-0 at the end of one.

"It was a great team effort and it was a badly needed win. Not having felt that way in a while, it was good for the players to feel that satisfaction," stated head coach Garth Gottfried.

The Excalibur would turn the tide around in the second half, applying the pressure and pinning the Blues deep in their end. Toronto’s defence was up to the challenge and kept their visitors at bay and off the score sheet.

In the final 15 minutes of the match, Toronto was again dominant but was unable to finish several good opportunities. One more penalty goal from Koppel late in the game added three more points as the Blues came away with a 19-0 victory.

"Everyone knows that we are capable of better, and now that we are getting healthy numbers at training, it's time to take it up to the next level," added Garth.

The Blues continue to move through their OUA schedule next week when they travel to Windsor and face the Lancers.

On Tuesday, the Blues development XV will face George Brown College in a training scrimmage as part of training on U of T’s back campus field. All interested players are still encouraged to come out for training on the Back Campus, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-7 p.m., and Friday from 5-6 p.m.