In Gaithersburg, Md. the Potomac Exiles ran out to an early lead and never looked back. Centers John Davis and Joe Whalen set the tone with big runs and early tries. Number ten Matt Quigley hit both conversions and used his boot again to set up the second try with a pretty chip recovered by Whalen for the 14-0 lead 15 minutes in. Potomac got up to 43-6 before Baltimore gamely fought back with three tries in the final fifteen minutes.
“I think the key to victory was the set piece. That’s where most of everything got started,” said Potomac coach Owen Lentz. “On defense we just made our tackles. We put them under a lot of pressure, and they weren’t able to score tries until we made our substitutions.”
In a game where several players stood out, Lentz gave hooker Guy Lopresti the nod as Man of the Match. “He was good on offense, he got his set pieces, he was good on counterattacks. He had a very good all around game.” Joining Davis and Whalen in the scorers’ column was Lopresti, fullback Jon Furman, flanker Kevin Kimble, lock Jake Sprang and wing Joanel Joseph.
-Alexander Diegel, Rugby Today