By Nicolette Grant
For the Daily Titan

On an uncommonly cold night on Nov. 20 at UC Irvine the Cal State Fullerton Club Rugby team fought under the bright lights to take back the Higgy’s Cup.

After falling behind 11-0 in the first half of regulation, Ardy Hernandez credits, “Pure heart and dedication and wanting to keep our only lead,” as pushing the team to pull off the win.

The teams battled while CSUF fought back to gain and hold a 16-11 lead with mere minutes left.

UCI pushed within three meters of scoring when penalties, yellow cards and an array of kicks forced Fullerton to keep on the defense for over 5 minutes.

In the midst of the team’s clutch defense, two players were given yellow cards causing Fullerton to not only have to defend, but to protect with two fewer men than their opponent.

“We just picked it up, and heart lead us through,” said Jonathan Arroyave, team captain.

Higgy’s Cup has been a traditional match between CSUF and UCI since 2000.

Kevin Higgins, who the cup is played in remembrance of, was arguably the best Rugby player to ever come out of Orange County.

After Higgins graduated from Mater Dei in Santa Ana, he planned on playing football for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

However, after an early season injury he was red shirted and not capable of playing.

Destiny took over when Higgins became healthy in time to play on the school’s club rugby team.

Within 16 months Higgins became, “One of the most prolific centers to ever pull on a United States Eagles jersey,” according to the United States Rugby Football Foundation, which is just one of the many organizations to create scholarships to remember his name.

Sadly, the story of Higgins does not end in fame and glory. Concussions and cancer plagued the end of his life, which ended by his own hand.

Fellow teammates from Mater Dei, who were associated with CSUF and UCI, decided in 2000 to create the Higgy’s Cup as a direct way to remember their dear friend and teammate.

CSUF won the first six cups. Of the last three UCI won two, and one was cancelled.

“This is the best tradition. We played amazing and this shows real Titan Pride. We are excited and overwhelmed right now,” said Hytham Elsherif, after the team secured the win.