It was billed as the “game to watch,” and CSU Northridge and UC Riverside did not disappoint. With 10 minutes remaining in the game, Riverside trailed USA Rugby’s DII national runner-up by two points, but then a yellow card opened up the necessary space for CSU Northridge to run in three tries to finish the game 38-17.

Both teams sport fast, evasive back lines, and that’s where their strengths are anchored.

“Northridge has great individual player maneuverability,” UC Riverside coach Roger Light said. “If you didn’t make the tackle and they got through and into open space, then they scored. We came up quickly [on defense] and made good tackles, and they did the same. … We countered each other well.”

Riverside had its strikers as well, as flanker Alysia Jones and flyhalf Desiree Millan did some damage. The most dangerous weapon, however, was fullback Michelle Hong.

“She’s one of our better runners and we bring her in a lot,” Light said of the multi-try-scorer. “On defense she hovers closely behind the line and one of the wings covers for the kick. She is our best tackler and one of the faster players.”

So the teams fought for dominance elsewhere. When ball-handling errors hampered Northridge’s attack, the team relied on its forwards to win possession in the scrum. Riverside, which has a light roster (19 players suited up for Saturday’s game), leaned on its fitness and outpaced Northridge to the breakdowns, forcing turnovers and engineering some plays off the quick pace.

Fortunate for Northridge, scrumhalf Jade Law did a great job of managing the chaos.

“She had clean passes on turnovers and was able to adjust her passes with the pressure from UCR's scrumhalf,” CSU Northridge coach Christina Alatorre said. “She also gave good pressure on defense to UCR's scrumhalf which prevented them from having clean ball.”

As the back-and-forth affair entered the final 10 minutes of the game, Riverside was yellow carded for repeated offsides. The forwards exploited the player advantage and dotted down the final tries for a more comfortable win.

It was a nice rebound for Northridge, which found itself on the opposite end of a momentum-changing incident the previous weekend against UC Irvine. Several injuries shook CSUN and the mental lapse allowed Irvine to claw to within six points (25-19).

“We did a great job in avoiding the same mistakes from the previous weekend,” Alatorre said after the victory.

“It was back and forth, very even,” Light said. “We’ll probably see them in the playoffs, and it’ll be a different story.”

The top four teams move onto playoffs, and it does indeed appear that Riverside is one of them. Light does have a depth issue and is already playing the injury game, but those who are on the field are fit and well experienced. UCR’s next big test is on March 14 against reigning SoCal champ Long Beach State. Northridge’s next game is Feb. 21 against the 49ers.