The fouth game of the regular season brough Elmhurst Rugby to Lemont, IL. With a full compliment of players at their disposal, including one later comer from Michigan, Elmhurst had choices in selection
The facilities available at the Blaze were magnificent and were mirrored by a warm spring evening. The team lined out with one selection change with Jake Smallwood's late arrival with Ethan Foley moving to the second row and Ben Fett moving to openside flanker.
The game started off at a blistering pace with Elmhurst showing well in the first five minutes, an area the coaches have targeted all year. The engine room worked tirelessly at the breakdown in and attack on on the fringes in defense. The front row forwards showing that they have nibble hands as well as powerful carries in their arsenel.
Ben Bernard and Ethan Foley added their size to the fray and managed to keep Elmhurst ruck ball clean for Ryan Costello to feed. The both flankers; Toa Hofflich and Ben Fett, mangaed to get through a mountain of donkey work making the backs' lives a little easier on attack.
Semmelhak was exceptional in getting go forward ball and worked hard to be in a posiiton of support. This hard work from the pack made the lives of halfbacks; Ryan Costello and Nick Bauer easier as they were able to get fast frontfoot ball on the attack.
In attack and defense the center partnership of Gio Rodriguez and Grant Melion was felt, huge hits in defense and excellent running breaking the gainline and feeding it wide where appropriate.
The back three of Danny Dunn, Ryan Blessing aand Patrick Cote were excellent in cmaaging the backfield and exploiting opporunities when they arose. Jake Smallwood, Nate Lyons and Danny Morrissey added to the effort when they made it onto the paddock.
Elmhurst managed to bag a number of tries and the conversion rate of kicks was particularly good, Blessing put on a magnificent display with the boot.
Elmhurst Starting XV 15. Patrick Cote, 14. Danny Dunn, 13. Gio Rodriguez, 12. Grant Melion, 11. Ryan Blessing, 10. Nick Bauer, 9. Ryan Costello, 8. Ben Semmelhak, 7. Ben Fett, 6. Toa Hofflich, 5. Ben Bernard, 4. Ethan Foley, 3. Ben Melion, 2. John Donwing, 1. CJ Cote
Elmhurst Replacements16. Jake Smallwood, 17. Nate Lyons, 18. Danny Morrissey