One of the largest sports clubs on the Puget Sound campus is rugby. Within the last few years the club has become a large presence on campus, causing a rise in the club’s membership. The club has many new members, the majority of whom have never played rugby before, but still managed to win numerous games during their season this year. This weekend the club played an important match againstSeattle University and a game last Saturday, Nov. 5 against Willamette.
During the game against Willamette, the Loggers struggled early on but managed to pull out a win, 37-10. At halftime the Loggers were losing 0-10, but had a huge turnaround in the second half. They scored 37 points in this half and limited Willamette to the 10 points they had previously scored, winning the match overall.
The match this past Saturday was the Sea-Tac Cup match against Seattle University. This match was played at home on Todd Field, and even with the rain there was still great fan turnout. Although it may not be known to the Puget Sound campus, this annual game between the Loggers and Redhawks is one of the biggest rivalry games in the Northwest. This was going to be an important match not only because of the rivalry, but because both teams were entering the game with the same league record 1-1. The Loggers needed to win the match in order to have a better record for playoffs.
The start of the match was extremely slow for the Loggers, and the Redhawks were able to take the lead immediately in the game 0-7. At the end of the first half the Loggers were able to take back the match with help from junior Cole Mcilvaine (Bellingham, Wash.) and the Logger defense. Mcilvaine fired three field goals to put the Loggers on the board and ahead of the Redhawks 9-7. With a strong offense and defense the Loggers scored once again during the second half of the match. Mcilvaine made another goal in the match bringing the final score 12-7, for a Logger win.
“Our next game is not until February, so we will have a break and slight off-season. However, we will continue to train and work on our fitness. We had a good start and we don’t want to lose any of this progress in the off-season. As our second year under our new coaches, they have significantly improved the performance of the team and have built a stronger program. We are excited to have done well this season and to have such good numbers,” Mcilvaine said.
After winning this game against Seattle University, this makes the rugby club’s current record 3-1 overall and 2-1 in their league. It has clearly been a great season for this popular club on campus, and they are looking to perform even better next semester.