courtesy of Heather Sivet Senior Matt Glass (right) passes to a teammate during Saturday’s rugby match at Western Washington University.

The SPU men's rugby club team found themselves in a tough spot Saturday afternoon as they faced top-notch Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham, Wash., in their first game of spring season.

Tip-off commenced at 1 p.m. with the sun shining, and despite scoring a try early on in the first half, the Falcons were outscored by the Vikings 46-7, allowing WWU to remain undefeated in league play.

"Overall, you could say it was a pretty lopsided game," sophomore David Addison said.

Junior John Henry Heubner became the lone scorer for the Falcons after swiping the ball from an SPU ruck, shaking through multiple Viking tackle attempts and driving into the try zone. Heubner came into the game as a substitute scrum half for senior Tyler Jennings who picked up a head gash at the start of the game.

"When we needed him, he stepped in," senior Sam Gadbury said of Heubner. "He went out there and played a position he hadn't played very much and did well."

Jennings was patched up on the sidelines and came back into the game later on. Afterwards he went to the hospital and received three staples in the left side of his head, Gadbury said.

According to Gadbury, Jennings's injury was only one of many, due to the aggressive play by both teams. Co-captain Adam Ludlow received a harsh blow under his right eye causing him to get 18 stitches after the game, Gadbury said.

Heubner's early try did not keep the Falcons in the game for long as WWU began to pull away.

Viking scrum half Will Wheaton led the scoring with a try and three conversion kicks, equaling 11 points. WWU hooker Jason Boyd and outside center Evan Brumfield each had two tries, grabbing 10 points each.

"They moved the ball to the outside quickly. We couldn't always get are defense set up in time and they found holes," Gadbury said.

Gadbury said WWU's relentless quickness on the offense continued to break down the Falcons' defensive game.

"Most of the guys on that team have been together for years and they just know what to do in every situation," Addison said.

Addison said that, despite having a much younger team, SPU showed improvement as they gained momentum at the start of the second half. They were able to make some big stops, maintain better control of the ball and execute scrums more efficiently.

In the weeks preceding the game, Addison said the men's rugby club head coach, Ryan Carpenter, had the team working on a new drift defense, which puts one player on the outside of the defensive formation in order to compensate for an extra man on the opposing offensive team. Addison said that, for the most part, it worked well against WWU.

SPU has also been working on basic skills, such as passing, tackling and formation, along with a better understanding of the game, in order to set a firm foundation regarding technique and getting new players up to speed, Gradbury said.

"We want new players to get more experience and become more comfortable in their positions," Addison said of the team's goals for their next match-up.

The men's rugby club will face Puget Sound University, whom they lost to in the fall, on Saturday March 1. The time and place is TBA.