By Mike Specht
Staff Writer
Following a close loss against Stony Brook University, the men’s rugby team plans to host Rutgers (2-6) tomorrow. In a do-or-die situation, the Bonnies (5-2-1) need to win this match, as well as the last game of the season against Iona College to be eligible for the USA Rugby National Championship. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at McGraw-Jennings Field on Saturday, November 3rd.
Vice-Captain Evan Meister acknowledged there is plenty of room for improvement as the Bonnies prepare to take on the Scarlet Knights.
“We need to do our best to get the bonus points, as well as scoring as many tries as possible.” Meister said. “We’re going to try using our wings to score, we have some really good potential on our wings, mainly freshman Brendan Allman and sophomore John Sullivan.”
Coach Clarence Picard stresses the team is only concerned with its match against Rutgers, and not looking ahead to the postseason.
“We’re not really looking at the playoffs right now, we’ve had our opportunities,” Picard said. “If they come our way we will be very excited. We will prepare ourselves to be successful if the postseason is a possibility.”
Last weekend, the Bonnies traveled to Long Island, and lost a heartbreaker to the Sea Wolves 35-33. The men came out strong within the first few minutes of the game, cumulating with a try by junior wing Ryan Brennan.
After the Bonnies took an 8-0 lead, various penalties resulted in Stony Brook gaining the momentum of the game. In particular, Stony Brook fly half P.J. Abelein proved difficult to contain, burning the Bonnies while scoring 15 points for the Sea Wolves. Senior Kevin McCorry added two penalty kicks with Stony Brook leading 28-11 at the half.
According to Picard, the Bonnies made an effort to play more aggressively than their performance in the first. Brennan added another try early on in the half and also had several long runs for the Bonnies.
After another Stony Brook try, McCorry scored an additional penalty kick. Later in the match, freshman Pat Hogan broke through the Stony Brook defense on his way to his second try of the season. In the last 10 minutes of play, the Bonnies were fierce on offense, but could not reach the try zone.
The Bonnies were also scheduled to face off against The U.S Merchant Marine Academy last Sunday, however the match was cancelled. Complications with Hurricane Sandy and a lack of available players led to a forfeit and an automatic 20-0 win for the Bonnies.
It was positive because, it was probably good late in the season to get a little rest and not play two games in the same weekend.” Picard said.
