By Emily Mulcahey
Contributing Writer
Having had an almost perfect season last year and dealing a blow-out win to Syracuse to start this season, it seemed that the St. Bonaventure Men’s Rugby Club had reached their dawn without darkness. However, even the most skilled competitors can have a tough game. The Bonnies could not pull out a win against a much-improved Iona squad last Saturday.
“We knew Iona would bring a lot of intensity, and we just weren’t able to match them,” Coach Clarence Picard said. “They beat us at our own game, hard defense, effort, focus. They capitalized on our mistakes, and we let them off the hook on theirs. We need to learn our lessons this week and bounce back.”
The players agreed one of the team’s biggest mistakes was a lack of focus when it was most crucially needed.
“Iona came out strong in the beginning,” junior lock Phil Jackling said. “We had a lot of penalties, and we didn’t recover very well. Iona was able to capitalize on that like any decent team is.”
Having struggled in previous seasons, Iona was not a team to make much noise throughout the Empire Rugby league last season. However, under their new coaching staff, they have gone undefeated this season so far in their new D1-A division.
“I think it was a pretty good wake up call,” Jackling said. “We beat Iona 90-5 last year, and it just goes to show that there isn’t a single bad team in this division, so anything can happen. Any team can put up a good fight.”
Having lost to a team that has long been considered an underdog in the sport, the Bonnies have two weeks to get ready for a team that has always stood out highly in the rugby standings: Army.
“After such an emotional loss to Iona, we are using the extra week to regroup mentally and tighten up our organization and team play. The coaching staff knows we didn’t prepare well enough in a lot of areas, so we’ve rededicated ourselves to putting the little things first,” Picard said.
With an upcoming game against one of the best teams in the league and after such a physical match against Iona, the Bonnies are happy to have a bye this week to prepare. The team suffered injuries in the Iona match that are sure to need some recovery time. Senior Justice Koonce is out with a leg injury, and sophomore Alfonso De Falco will take to the sidelines with a fractured eye socket.
“Injuries are something we are used to dealing with,” Picard said. “You always try to plan ahead for various scenarios, but it’s never easy to see a player miss time because they are hurt. We just have to take it all in stride and prepare the next guy to step up and compete well.”
After a tough loss, the Bonnies are excited to get back on the field and play the game they know how to play.
“Despite our issues, our goals as a team remain the same,” Picard said. “We knew this season would be a challenge, but we have complete faith in our ability to adjust and grow from the experience. We’ve lost before and come back better for it, and we expect to do that again.”
The rugby club has come far, tying for first place in the Empire Rugby league after being moved into the highest division in the region, beating Syracuse by a landslide. The team has shown that it is ready to take on this new challenge.
The game against Army looks to be one of the most hard fought of the season. The game will be played on the newly-renovated McGraw-Jennings field, under the lights, at 7 p.m Sept. 27.
mulcahek12@bonaventure.edu
