Mar 25- Fresh off spring break the Wildcats traveled to the Pacific Northwest for their regular season finale, taking on Central Washington. The battle of the Wildcats would come down to the wire, the latest in the close results that have become a theme of the D1A season nationwide.

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Arizona would start well, responding to an early CWU try with a long possession inside the opponents' half, culminated by a Nick Morgan try off of a scrum to tie it at 7 in the thirteenth minute. The wind would play a major factor, and the hosts would routinely pin the Wildcats deep in their own half. That wind would impact the lineout for both sides, and help give CWU a chance inside Arizona's 5 meter line that they would convert in the 25th minute to make it 14-7. The back-and-forth theme was just beginning, as the Wildcats would work their way into the CWU half and score on a well-worked maul try by Cameron Blair just before the break to make it 14-12.

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Using that wind, the Wildcats would start to play inside the opponents' half after the break, mauling in a second try in the 42nd minute with Dalton Slaughter touching down to make it 17-14 before Number Eight Jacob Jaffe would bull his way over from a meter out to make it 24-14 just a few minutes later. A long-range try on a cutout pass from Saxon Gerstl to Antonio Gonzalez would help put Matteo Berenger through a gap, and the Fullback would go 50 meters to make it 29-19 in the 60th minute. CWU would not go away however, and took advantage of Arizona penalties and worked their way down for a try to make it 29-19. Another try, this time off of a lineout would make it 29-24. The Wildcats would have their chances to seal the win, but a turnover won by CWU and a linebreak would be too much for the visitors, as a try on the final play of the match would tie it before a conversion would seal the 31-29 loss on the road.

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"We're incredibly disappointed, because while we respect the heck out of CWU and know they're a good side, we felt we did enough. But it's a hard lesson for our guys, especially our youngsters. You need to have 80 minutes of focus and attention to detail in this league. Now that the dust has settled our guys see that, and know that the lesson they take from today can be applied right away to this postseason. We played one of the toughest schedules in the country by choice, and we are already seeing the benefits of that" said Director of Rugby Sean Duffy.

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Despite the loss, the Wildcats have earned the 5th seed in the west, a step forward after being a #7 seed in 2024. They will take on #4 Cal Poly on April 5th, with the winner advancing to a national quarterfinal against the winner of Cal and Colorado State. The 2025 D1A postseason will conclude the first weekend of May in Indianapolis at the D1A National Championship. For more on the posteason, including the full bracket, click here. 

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For the Wildcats full schedule, click here.​​​​​​​

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Scoring vs CWU

Tries: 5- Morgan, Blair, Slaughter, Jaffe, Berenger

Conversions: Berenger- 2/5

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1st XV vs Army

​​1- Isaac Morrill

2- Cameron Blair- C

3- Dalton Slaughter

4- Aiden Kemp

5- Jack Bresland

6- Troy Norman

7- Tanner DeMassa

8- Jacob Jaffe

9- Jacob Hall

10- Saxon Gerstl

11- Jake Schumacher

12- Ted Champion

13- Mattox King

14- Nick Morgan

15- Matteo Berenger- VC
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16- Henry Langrish

17- Tucker Johnstone

18- Seamus McCarthy

19- Pacific Smiley

20- Aston Gradwick-Light

21- Lucas Smith

22- Brody Johnson

23- Antonio Gonzalez

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