Baylor drops match to Rice

The day started off cold and rainy as the Baylor Bears traveled to Houston to face the Rice University Owls in their first cup match of the season.  The first 20 minutes of the match saw a tug of war between the two evenly matched sides.  Working through the forward pack, it would be Rice that would draw first blood of the day.  Baylor though would quickly respond.  Big hits by Matt Reid and power running by Andy Audet would bring the Bears their first try and even the score 7 to 7.  Rice though would take advantage of Baylor’s poor ball handling and picked off a pass from Travis Bonning which allowed them to sprint down the field for another try.  The halftime score was Rice 12 Baylor 7.
In the second half the Rice forward pack was too much for the Bears.  Winning almost every scrum allowed Rice to march down the field for another score, bringing it to 17 to 7.  Not to be outdone though, Baylor picked up the pace and the aggression and showed signs of life.  Their tackling was excellent, as well as the rucking.  Baylor would respond by putting in two trys, one by Jake Amescua and the other by Travis Bonning; Baylor tied the score 17 to 17.  With 7 minutes left in the match though Rice would come back for another try, and add another 2 minutes after that.  Rice’s forward pack dominated Baylor all day and the Bear’s could not seem to manage descent passing or work together as a team and a few crucial mistakes cost them the match, the final score Rice 27 Baylor 17.