By Mike Specht
Staff Writer
With an Empire Rugby Sevens Championship under its belt, the men’s rugby team will travel from the banks of the Allegheny River to those of the Ohio River as they take on Wheeling Jesuit University tomorrow at 3 p.m.
In their first year as a varsity program, the Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals are undefeated in the fall and spring seasons at home. Their recent success doesn’t frighten the eager Bonnies, however.
“This will be a tune-up game for us,” senior Jon Garbin said. “They think they’re hot shots, and we are excited to play against a team that’s up to our level.”
Coach Clarence Picard sees Saturday’s opponents as skilled, and not very experienced.
“Wheeling is a well-coached, talented team with a lot of freshmen,” Picard said.
Last Saturday, St. Bonaventure upset sevens powerhouse Stony Brook 17-10 in the Empire Rugby Sevens Championships at the University at Buffalo.
While in pool play, the ruggers soundly defeated Syracuse 36-5 and Rutgers 33-0. They fell to Stony Brook 28-5 in part to not sticking to the predetermined game plan according to Picard.
“We didn’t keep to the plan against Stony Brook,” Picard said. “We didn’t tackle well either. We needed a lot of guys to bring one of their guys down, and Stony Brook was breaking our tackles.”
The Bonnies managed to score first with a try from junior Kevin Corley, but could not respond to Stony Brook’s offense. The players knew they were physically equal with the opponent, but they were mentally offset.
“We were frantic after scoring first,” Garbin said. “Our psyche was thrown off.”
The Bonnies then faced off against UB, winning 24-12. Garbin noted the team always has the goal to beat their Western New York rival, and the victory Saturday boosted their morale for the rest of the tournament.
“After the tough loss to Stony Brook, the win over UB really got us back on track and gave us confidence,” Garbin said.
Before the match, Garbin was switched from prop to center to be more effective, especially defensively. Jordan Farrant and Pat Hogan were also essential to the victory, according to Picard.
“These three guys had nice impacts on the defensive side of the ball and were really a key to our defense.”
The ruggers then advanced to the finals for a rematch with Stony Brook. With a long day of rugby, they fought through tough injuries in the final. Freshman scrumhalf Chuck Meagher and senior fly half Kevin McCorry didn’t start and freshman wing Brendan Allman and sophomore lock Greg Johnson had to leave the game due to injuries.
Despite the setback, the Bonnies battled in what Picard calls “one of the more exciting games I’ve been a part of.” Sophomore John Sullivan and junior Ryan Brennan had key takeaways on the defensive end during the first half, while Dan Dillon burned through the defense to put the Bonnies up 7-5 at halftime.
The second half was highlighted by Pat Hogan, whose two tries put the game away for the Bonnies, with the final score 17-10.
“That was one of my top-five wins all time. All the training and preparation really paid off in the end. It was an amazing feeling to be a champion” said Garbin, who has started since his freshman year.
As the Bonnies ended their sevens season, the top four scorers for the team are Meagher, Hogan, Dillon and Farrant, all of whom are freshmen.
“They’re a great class. They fit in right away, and are real eager to work real hard,” Garbin noted.
While the sevens squad was at UB, the rest of the team was at Delaware Park, playing for The Little Three Cup. Captained by Tim Hanna, St. Bonaventure beat Niagara 22-0 in the final.
The Bonnies relied on experienced veterans in senior Hanna, junior Justin Walker and junior Tommy Tyler, while more inexperienced ruggers saw some more action in the Niagara final.
“Niagara is an up-and-coming program,” Picard said. “We want our matches with our rivals to be big games, and it always feels good to beat Niagara.”
After a weekend of playing opponents they’ve seen before, Picard admitted the Bonnies look forward to a team they haven’t faced yet.
“We could pick something up on how they do things, with them being a varsity team,” Picard said.
