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SD State Wins Wild One

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SD State Wins Wild One

In a wild non-conference game in Southern California, #46 San Diego State defeated #17 UCLA 42-41 Saturday.

It was a back-and-forth game in warm conditions at the UCLA campus, with the lead changing 11 times helped by an adventurous approach from both teams and plenty of defensive miscues.

UCLA scored with five minutes to play to make it 41-39. SD State tried to pin UCLA in their half as time wound down, and solid defense earned them a penalty from about 48 meters away. Captain and flyhalf Kalei Konrad pointed to the posts and hit the kick as time expired.

“It was great to have the opportunity to play against UCLA in a friendly match,” said San Diego State Head Coach Alex Lichtig. “It's a traditional game that we've been missing for years. Neither team played mistake-free rugby, but the match was a great back-and-forth battle with some great phase play at times. It's great for us to get the result, especially with an impressive finish, but I think the true value of the match was the experience the players got over 80 minutes.”

Konrad continues to be a huge contributor to the Aztecs, but they also got a big game from Frank Ramos, who made multiple line breaks, scored two tries, and set up at least one more.

Next up for SD State are conference games against UCSB and Cal Poly, with the Cal Poly game likely to decide who finishes 2nd to St. Mary’s in the California Conference.

Here's video of Konrad's kick. If you don't see the video embedded, please refresh the page.