Men’s Rugby knocked out of playoffs in convincing fashion

Men's Rugby knocked out of playoffs in convincing fashion

Playing on a wet, muddy field and for their playoff lives, the Men's Rugby team (4-2) closed out their season quietly as they were outscored 25-0 in the second half, leading to a 37-5 loss to Salve Regina (5-1) in Newport.  In a game where the winner would stay in contention for the league playoffs and the loser would go home, both teams battled through the sloppy field conditions, but it would be the home team who would strike first as an overload in the backs would enable them to score on a long run.  Three minutes later another overload in the back line produce Salve's second score and the men from the Hill were quickly down 12-0.  Battling back however, the men would score one of their own, as senior scrumhalf Paul Sawyer would dive across from a meter away closing the gap to seven at the half 12-5.   "We took some pretty good shots from them in the first half, but were able to keep it close," commented men's Coach Derek Jenesky, "I really thought in a game of this magnitude we would have come back with a little more life in the second half, but we just seemed to run out of gas."

With everything on the line, the men just could not muster anything in terms of an attack, and very soon their defense would start to wear down.  Fifteen minutes into the half Salve would score again, and just 3 minutes later they were back in the try zone one more time.  A penalty kick would increase the home teams lead to 27-5 with 15 mintues to go, and two more scores in the final ten would put the nails in the coffin.  "To go 4-2 in our first year back in Div III was no small feat," added Jenesky "I wouldn't say Stonehill Men's Rugby is back, but we sure are close.  I am so proud of how hard the guys worked this year on and off the field.